1 68 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



been for the fact that the fish rose indiscrimi- 

 nately to many different sorts spinners, gnats, 

 and the smaller members of the beetle family, 

 lady-bugs, and the like, and finally to an artificial 

 which bore no resemblance to any of these. I 

 could not imitate them all, and had tried faith- 

 fully with a fair imitation, in size and colour, of 

 one species. It was all to no purpose, however, . 

 and to see him continually rising after the many 

 attempts I had made was, to say the least, 

 chastening. I finally decided, after watching 

 him feed for ten minutes, to make one more 

 attempt, and to keep casting the one pattern 

 until he took it or was put down. I knotted on 

 a fly known as the "Mole," which looks like an 

 insect on the water at a distance, but very unlike 

 one when examined closely. This fly was offered 

 probably twenty times or more, without effect, 

 the fish continuing to rise to the natural insects 

 all about it. The cast which eventually raised 

 him differed from any that I had previously 

 made, though without intent on my part. When 

 the fly alighted about a foot above the fish, it 

 fell upon its side with one wing on the surface 

 and the other in the air. Drifting down to with- 

 in a few inches of the fish, it suddenly stood 

 erect and cocked, this apparently the result of 



