112 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



less fruitful than another which I will try to de- 

 scribe, it should never be carelessly fished; and, 

 if the instructions given in this chapter for fish- 

 ing the swift are followed, the effort should not 

 go unrewarded. Many of these short rifts are 

 met with in a day's fishing and too often are 

 slighted by those careless anglers who seem anx- 

 ious only to have their flies upon the surface 

 of pools. They should be given careful atten- 

 tion, let conditions be what they may. 



There are other rifts where the current seems 

 to be travelling at its greatest speed and where 

 the fall is sharp and continuous. Where the de- 

 cline ends abruptly a pool is formed; where it 

 is gradual, and the force of the current is spent, 

 it spreads, fan-like, over the formation of gravel 

 and stones, finally flowing to one bank or the 

 other, forming another pool or another rift. 

 The fish occupying these longer rifts or rapids 

 may not be the largest in the stream, but are 

 likely to be well above the average in size and 

 worth trying for. Along both sides of the swift- 

 est part of the current the fly may be floated 

 successfully. A long line is inadvisable unless 

 the angler has mastered the difficulty of han- 

 dling it under such circumstances, because it is 

 returned very quickly. He should pick out the 



