90 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



of May and the fifteenth of June. It is not too 

 bright, and a light wind with a touch of summer 

 in it is blowing up-stream. The water is running 

 down after a light rain, and while not crystal 

 clear is not much discoloured. It is about five- 

 thirty o'clock of the afternoon, and the trout 

 from below the stretch are coming on the feed. 

 The flat to be fished is about one hundred and 

 fifty feet long from where the water flows into 

 it to where it rolls out again at the tail, and 

 about fifty feet wide where the banks are 

 farthest apart, narrowing, fan-like, to ten feet 

 or less at the head. The current, gliding silently 

 along the left bank (looking up-stream), shows 

 the deep water to be on that side. These are 

 ideal conditions, of course, and I have chosen 

 them for that very reason. The angler is in- 

 deed fortunate who happens upon the stream 

 when they prevail. 



The natural place to look for trout under 

 such conditions is anywhere along the left bank 

 in the deep water. If flies are hatching as in 

 all probability they will be at this season the 

 angler need but watch for the rise that will 

 indicate the position of the feeding fish. If 

 these fish be small, as will be evidenced by the 

 "staccato smack" made as the fly is taken, he 



