8o DRY-FLY FISHING 



for the trout are very fond of it and lie close to the 

 gravel on the windward bank of the pool waiting for 

 a shower to be wafted to them. 



When fishing for trout feeding on sand-flies a 

 very little carelessness will result in an empty basket. 

 The fish will naturally be where the flies are, and 

 that as a rule is in shallow water near the edge of 

 the gravel. The angler should therefore select only 

 such reaches as have stretches of sand and gravel 

 along the bank from which the wind is blowing. 



If he chooses the easy cast down-wind, he wil] 

 find that an unseen approach is impossible to accom- 

 plish, and that the sole result of his efforts will be a 

 series of furrows caused by the hasty flight of trout 

 from the shallows to the depths of the pool. Con- 

 sequently the cast will generally have to be made 

 from the water beneath the opposite bank, and 

 therefore also more or less against the wind ; but if 

 these points are attended to excellent sport can be 

 enjoyed with the artificial sand-fly. 



We find that Webster's dressing viz. black 

 silk body, black hackle, and wings from the hen- 

 pheasant tail, is quite satisfactory, but we do not 

 approve of the split wing he advocates. A few 

 fibres of feather tied in, without division of any 

 kind, so as to lie low along the hook, give a much 

 superior wing for a floating pattern. The hackle 

 should be of black cock, stiff and long, for the natural 

 fly floats high in the water. 



We have proved that a Black Spider is not alto- 

 gether ignored when sand-flies are on the water, 

 and on one occasion in July, when we learned for 

 the first time that a strong hatch of these welcome 

 insects could occur in that month, we killed seventeen 



