DRAG 117 



drag ; almost every day on the river a new problem 

 is set us to solve, and often we devise new tactics 

 in the hope of at last overcoming an old stager of a 

 trout that dwells secure in some ungenerous corner. 

 The examples we take are therefore to be considered 

 as illustrative and the solutions as merely suggestive. 

 We point out the difficulty and so enable the angler 

 to perceive it, before he ruins his chance of sport 

 by proceeding, as if none existed ; we indicate 

 methods of surmounting it, but leave it to him to 

 select that which most appeals to his particular 

 style or to modify it in any way that his previous 

 experience pronounces advisable. 



Whenever the artificial fly leaves the course that 

 a natural fly, unaffected by a breeze, would take, 

 or has its pace influenced by some force other than 

 the current, it is said to drag. This usually fatal 

 effect can be produced (i) by the sinking of the line, 

 (2) by the action of the wind on the line, (3) by 

 the influence of the stream itself. 



If the cast or line begins to sink, it will gradually 

 pull the fly along the surface and finally beneath 

 it. This movement can be appreciable only in a 

 dull, still pool or a loch and scarcely requires con- 

 sideration, for it simply means that the line is calling 

 for redressing. It may occur when the fly has been 

 allowed to remain where cast for a comparatively 

 long time, and that is occasionally a means of 

 bringing up a trout in deep, calm water, but, when 

 the effect of this little trick is being investigated, 

 precautions should be taken to guard against the 

 fly dragging. 



Some anglers object to the trouble involved in 

 drying and re-treating the line, possibly because the 



