io6 DRY-FLY FISHING 



click or two. Some like to hear the reel sing out 

 its wild cheering notes to the hills around, and 

 glorious music it is when accompanied by a wild 

 headlong rush for liberty. Then it is not only sweet 

 but safe, because it starts more softly. Even a 

 smoothly running reel has some inertia which must 

 be overcome, and that may not be done if the call 

 is too sudden ; hence the strike must be administered 

 gently. 



Our pupil has now received so many instructions 

 and listened to so much discussion that he must be 

 able to cast a floating fly, raise a trout, and strike 

 it correctly. Of course he has long known how to 

 land it. When the fish has been duly admired and 

 laid to rest in the creel, the fly should be washed 

 to remove any blood or slime that may be adhering 

 to it, and dried. It may be oiled again, but that 

 should not be really necessary. Time should be 

 taken to examine the flies in case they require to be 

 re-tied to the gut, and the wings should be adjusted 

 or stroked into position. 



He will naturally enough desire to go further 

 upstream, to try his fortunes elsewhere, possibly in 

 some slightly more difficult flat or pool. His 

 ambition is excusable, his enthusiasm exactly as 

 we expected, and we do not wish to restrain him in 

 any way ; but we must inform him that one of the 

 greatest mistakes a dry-fly fisher can make is to 

 cover a lot of ground in the course of a day's fishing. 

 Not only is that unnecessary, but it may even be 

 the means of converting what might have proved 

 an excellent day into a mediocre one. 



A hatch of flies, it should be remembered, is 

 almost invariably a local event ; that is to say, it 



