72 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



this spot had been cast over repeatedly, and 

 apparently without any glaring error, I felt in 

 no humour to try again, but determined to test 

 their appetites in another way. Catching a half 

 dozen grasshoppers, I dropped one in front of 

 the big fish that led the school. He paid not 

 the slightest attention to it. Neither did any 

 of the others, not even the smallest one. I tried 

 again, throwing another grasshopper a bit up- 

 stream so that it would float down in plain 

 view for a longer time, and again provoked 

 no interest upon the part of the fish. Finally, 

 I killed one of the grasshoppers, crushing it so 

 that it would sink, and threw it well above 

 the fish. It came down under water directly 

 on a line with the big fish, which deliber- 

 ately moved a bit to one side, apparently to 

 avoid having it touch him. Each fish behind 

 him did the same thing, even the smallest ones 

 ignoring it. 



Now, what sort of a fly, wet, sunk, or dry, or, 

 if the angler was inclined to try it, what sort of 

 bait could he use to interest such fish? Under 

 the conditions then prevailing the thermometer 

 recording 94 degrees in the shade, the stream at 

 its lowest point, and the temperature of the 

 water very high I really believe that the only 



