SOME FANCIES SOME FACTS 195 



that will entice, wastes many precious minutes 

 in his fumbling uncertainty, when suddenly all 

 rising ceases, and he has lost his opportunity. 



The remedy for all of these cases is the same 

 calmness and deliberation. 



The suggestion that the sight of the leader is 

 abhorrent to trout brings up a point upon which 

 great stress is laid by dry fly anglers. That the 

 fish is warned off by seeing the gut upon the 

 surface of low, clear water is to my mind more 

 certain than anything else in the sport of an- 

 gling. Whether or not frequent sight of the 

 leader makes the fish familiar with it, is difficult 

 to determine. Personally, I believe that when a 

 fish refuses a fly because he has seen the leader 

 attached to it, his timidity is likely to be due to 

 the impression of its unnaturalness at the mo- 

 ment, rather than to his recollection of having 

 seen a like object before and learned its danger. 

 In plain words probably inviting a storm of 

 protest and criticism I am not inclined to the 

 notion that trout become "educated" on streams 

 that are much fished. These trout are quite 

 sensitive to danger, but, in my opinion, only 

 imminent danger affects them. The sudden 

 appearance of an angler waving a rod, or of a 

 cow fording the stream, are disturbing to trout, 



