12 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



fisherman, and consequently can take his sport more at his 

 ease. For he of the wet fly who fishes up-stream has to 

 use a shorter line, and is consequently nearer the fish, 

 while he who fishes down-stream is faced by the trout, 

 and has to exercise the greatest caution in order to escape 

 observation. Trout lie invariably with their heads pointed 

 up-stream or against the current, and are in consequence 

 looking away from the up-stream, but towards the down- 

 stream fisherman. Trout can easily see from a point 

 right ahead to an angle of 150 degrees on either side 

 in the plane in which they are lying, leaving an angle of 

 about 60 degrees in which the fisherman may escape observa- 

 tion, provided he is not perched too much over them, so 

 that in fishing outside this zone of safety he must endeavour 

 to be as near the surface of the water as possible (see " The 

 Vision of Trout/' p. 88). This position of the trout, facing 

 up-stream, is also an important advantage to the angler 

 when fishing up-stream, for when striking his hook will be 

 pulled back into the mouth of the trout, instead of being 

 pulled from or out of the mouth of the trout, as is the case 

 when fishing down-stream. See p. 91. 



As we are now approaching the stream, we will look at 

 the water and see if anything is moving. By standing here 

 and looking up stream we shall not scare the fish, and in 

 order to see if the trout are feeding we must look out for 

 any unusual movement on the surface of the water, such as 

 the ring or dimple made by a rising fish. No, there is 

 nothing moving yet ; it is perhaps a little too early or not 

 quite warm enough to tempt the sub-imago i.e., the first 

 flying state of the various water insects to leave their 

 shelter on the banks of the stream, or to impel the pupae to 

 come to the surface in order to enter their aerial life, and 

 therefore, until some forms of insect life begin to move on 

 or to the surface, the trout are not likely to rise. In my 



