12 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



the first cast each time. If such had not been 

 the case I doubt very much if I should have suc- 

 ceeded, because I am certain that my confidence 

 in the method would have been much weakened 

 had I failed to take the first fish, and my subse- 

 quent attempts might not have been made at 

 all, or, if made, would probably have ended in 

 failure. 



For several years after my first experience 

 with the floating fly I used it in conjunction 

 with the wet fly, and until I read Mr. Halford's 

 " Dry Fly Fishing," when, recognising his great 

 authority and feeling that the last word had 

 been said upon the subject, I used the dry fly 

 only on such water as I felt he would approve 

 of and fished only rising fish. Some time later 

 on I read George A. B. Dewar's "Book of the 

 Dry Fly/' Mr. Dewar says: "I shall endeavour 

 to prove in the course of this volume that the 

 dry fly is never an affectation, save when re- 

 sorted to in the case of brawling, impetuous 

 streams of mountainous districts, where it is 

 practically impossible of application." Here 

 again I felt inclined to listen to the voice of 

 authority and felt that I must abandon the 

 dry fly. I was accustomed to fish such streams 

 as the Beaverkill, Neversink, Willowemoc, and 



