EARLY EXPERIENCES 9 



of these fish became an obsession, and their 

 constant rising to everything but my flies ex- 

 asperated me to the point of wishing that I 

 might bring myself to the use of dynamite. 



One evening in looking through my fly book I 

 found in one of the pockets a clipping from the 

 Fishing Gazette, which I had placed there during 

 the preceding winter. If my memory serves 

 me, I think this article was entitled "Casting 

 to Rising Fish." At any rate, the caption was 

 such that it caught my eye, as it seemed to 

 suggest the remedy for which I was searching. 

 The article proved to be an account of the 

 experience of an angler who used the dry fly 

 for trout, and his exposition of the manner of 

 using it seemed so clear that I determined to 

 try it myself upon the pool over the rising fish 

 in the late afternoon. Barring my inability 

 to execute properly the things the author 

 described and that I was called upon to do, 

 the only stumbling-block in my way was the 

 impossibility of my obtaining an artificial fly 

 that resembled the insects upon which the trout 

 were feeding, and the author laid a great deal 

 of stress upon the necessity of using such an 

 imitation. I remember that, in a measure, I 

 was mildly glad of this, because I felt that I 



