32 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



tion, assume proportions of great value. The 

 taking of an insect, for instance, may mean 

 nothing more than a rising trout; but the posi- 

 tion occupied by this fish may indicate the 

 position taken by others in similar water. The 

 flash of a trout, changing his position prepara- 

 tory to investigating the angler's fly, will fre- 

 quently disclose the spot occupied by him before 

 he changed his position; and, later on, when the 

 fish are not in the keenest mood for feeding, a 

 fly presented there accurately may bring a rise. 

 The quick dart up-stream of a small trout from 

 the tail of a pool is a pretty fair indication that 

 a large fish occupies the deeper water above; 

 it indicates just as certainly, however, that the 

 angler has little chance of taking him, the ex- 

 citement of the smaller fish having probably 

 been communicated to his big relative. 



The backwater formed by a swift current on 

 the up-stream side of a boulder is a favourite 

 lurking-place of brown trout. I was fishing 

 such places one day, and found the trout oc- 

 cupying them and in rather a taking mood. 

 In approaching a boulder which looked particu- 

 larly inviting, and while preparing to deliver my 

 fly, I was amazed to see the tail and half the 

 body of a fine trout out of the water at the side 



