182 THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER 



the fact is lost sight of that these flies are usu- 

 ally presented by anglers who have but little 

 knowledge of the habits of the fish they are seek- 

 ing, their experience having been gained solely 

 at the expense of the trout of the wilderness. 



While not asserting the opinion that a gaudy 

 fly will not take fish, I would remind the reader 

 that such a fly is usually cast by a man who 

 presents himself to the fish before he offers the 

 fly with the inevitable result. The instinct of 

 self-preservation is strong in the trout, and he 

 flees the apparition, though, if he would but 

 realise it, he was never safer than at the very 

 moment of its appearance. 



Anything unusual that comes within the 

 vision of the fish means to him a possible 

 danger, and the desire to feed, if he be in the 

 mood, is forgotten in his effort to locate the 

 point of attack. Any shadow thrown upon the 

 water indicates the approach of an enemy 

 a heron, a kingfisher, a mink (the most destruc- 

 tive of all), or a man, in whom he recognises an 

 enemy only because he sees a moving object. 

 Beset as the trout is at all times, it is but natural 

 that he should make use of his only means of 

 defence speed and escape while he may. On 

 streams that are much fished, frequent sight 



