2 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



on his return home produce a dish of speckled beauties as 

 a tribute to his knowledge and the successful use of his 

 treasured rod and delicate tackle. 



There are but few accomplishments more delightful to 

 witness than the handling of his rod, line and fly, by the 

 skilled dry fly fisherman. It is not alone the grace and 

 ease which accompany the varying and always beautiful 

 curves assumed by his rod and line which compel the 

 admiration of the onlooker, but it is equally due to the 

 instinctive recognition of the science or art which lies 

 behind the exquisite result of each cast. But if the casting 

 of a skilled fisherman be so admirable, can there, on the 

 other hand, be any failures more humiliating than those 

 which accompany the efforts of the unskilled fly fisherman. 



This book, however, is not written to extol " the gentle 

 art," but with the serious object of assisting those who may 

 be anxious to learn the science of fly fishing; and for his 

 comfort I can assure the beginner that it is by no means a 

 difficult or a lengthy process for him to acquire an absolute 

 and exact method of casting a fly, so that he may be able 

 with certainty to present his lure accurately and delicately 

 to the trout in ninety-nine out of every hundred chances 

 which occur in an average day's fishing. 



A well-known writer on piscatorial matters says : " For 

 my part, indeed, I am inclined to believe that the best way 

 to become an accomplished dry fly fisherman is, in these 

 particular methods, to steer clear of teachers and preachers, 

 either in the book or in the flesh, get down to the water, 

 look out for rising trout, and hammer away till one is at 

 length hooked and landed, after very many have been 

 scared/' 



Although this advice was seriously meant, and although 

 other writers and many fishermen have argued on similar 

 lines, they have all admitted the length of time required 



