37 



PREFACE 



ANOTHER book on the dry-fly should perhaps 

 be accompanied by an apology, so many 

 anglers having already written in praise of 

 the most seductive lure that can be offered to a 

 trout ; but I have been so frequently asked to 

 produce an elementary work on the fascinating 

 subject that I have at last consented. 



Those who have been fishing the floating fly for 

 many years may be surprised to learn how much 

 misconception exists regarding their favourite 

 method. It is still looked upon in many quarters 

 as something mysterious, something demanding 

 superlative skill and even erudition, something 

 applicable only to certain waters ; whereas the fact 

 is that it is as simple as it is deadly, and more 

 generally useful than any other. 



My chief purpose is to make known the virtues of 

 the dry-fly to Scottish anglers and others, whose 

 great privilege it is to fish streams of cheerful flow ; 

 to show them how they may take trout with the 

 fly both from the sparkling currents and the placid 

 pools, not only in spring, but also in the height of 

 summer, not under cover of darkness, but in the 

 happier sunlight. In June, July and August, 

 during which period most fishing is done and fewest 

 fish are captured, it is impossible to obtain sport by 



