40 DRY-FLY FISHING 



the trout-fisher all possibility of similar sensa- 

 tions, only less in degree? 



A lure which produces sport under conditions 

 which render all others futile is worthy of great 

 respect. Consider a hot breathless day of July 

 when the distant air quivers above the meadows, 

 when the long flats are smooth as glass, save those 

 in which the tortured cattle strive to gain a little 

 comfort. The trout likewise have departed in 

 search of more consoling surroundings in the rippling 

 aerated shallows at the head of the pool ; but 

 that is not the only reason underlying the migra- 

 tion. The cunning fish know that sporting over 

 the wavelets dance the flies, and that now and 

 then these lightly touch the surface, sending away 

 the ova on the adventurous journey of their varied 

 life. Some of the busy insects are cut down before 

 their work is completed, and even those that escape 

 such an untimely fate must of necessity sooner 

 or later fall to the stream. Then a dainty hackled 

 pattern suggesting the busy or spent fly will lure 

 many a fine trout from the waving current. The 

 fish are eager and the fly floats quickly past ; long 

 and close inspection is therefore impossible, and 

 so the sport is merry, though the conditions drive 

 the wet-fly man in despair to the coolness of the 

 trees. 



Consider also the glories of the evening rise, 

 the delight of the dry-fly man, the irritation of 

 the wet-fly fisher. The stream flows lazily on- 

 wards ; the melody of the woods is silenced ; the 

 air is still and quiet save for the persistent hum of 

 innumerable gnats ; the hills are bathed in the 

 red glow of the west. The gay spinners have 



