58 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



coincidence, each foul and near the tail. Again, 

 query: Was this mere accident or were the 

 trout trying to drench my fly? Were they still 

 on the lookout for the sport afforded them by 

 the clouds of insects? The gullets of the fish 

 taken were lined with the small insects, the 

 stomachs also being well filled with them; but 

 how the fish took them after they had risen 

 without my seeing some indication of it, I 

 cannot imagine. I feel quite certain that they 

 were not taken at the instant of the rise, 

 because the insects did not touch the water at 

 any time; nor did the trout show any part of 

 their bodies above the surface except their tails. 

 So they could not have been taken in the air. 

 Some day, perhaps, the problem may be solved, 

 but at present I have no solution to offer. 



A bulging or smutting fish and a cursing an- 

 gler are not a rare combination. If there is 

 anything more perplexing and vexing than the 

 sight of fish rising all about and one's best ef- 

 forts going unrewarded, I cannot imagine what 

 it is. 



A bulging fish may be taken with an imitation 

 of the insects he is feeding upon, either sunk in 

 one form or floating in another; but a smutting 

 fish cannot be appealed to with any imitation 



