24 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



are keenly alive to the necessity of constant 

 practice, that spirit of competition which is so 

 much a part of them making any endeavour 

 that will aid toward high efficiency, or improve 

 game or form, seem worth while. And in all 

 sports, particularly those in which the com- 

 petition is individual, whenever and wherever 

 opportunity presents itself there will be found 

 hundreds of enthusiasts following every play 

 of the expert, keenly studying his method, ob- 

 serving his form, and absorbing and storing 

 the knowledge so gained for their own practice 

 later on court or field. So, too, even though 

 competition has no place in fly fishing, and 

 should have none, the angler ought to strive 

 always to "play a good game." He should 

 practise the tactics of his art with the same zeal 

 as do the followers of competitive sports if he 

 hopes ever to become an expert fly fisherman 

 in the highest sense of that much misused term. 

 The casual angler who looks upon fishing as 

 merely incidental to his periods of recreation, 

 during which his chief concern is the recupera- 

 tion of tired brain and unstrung nerves, may 

 feel that he is making a business of his pleasure 

 by devoting much time to the study of his an- 

 gling. In a measure, this is true, and it would 



