FISHING THE STREAM 165 



One of his best known statements is to the effect 

 that the moment the flies alight on the surface is 

 the deadliest of the cast. This dictum is worthy 

 of a little consideration. He fished upstream with 

 three or four flies on his cast, aiming carefully at a 

 rise whenever he had the opportunity of doing 

 so, and, acting up to his beliefs as in the sentence 

 referred to, he cast very frequently, never allowing 

 his flies to travel far towards him. 



If he had used a single fly, he would not have 

 given expression to that opinion, as only accident- 

 ally would the fly happen to alight exactly where 

 a trout chanced to be, even though it is admitted 

 that he had an intimate acquaintance with the 

 waters and usually, if not invariably, attempted 

 to reach what he considered a likely spot. In that 

 case he would certainly have found that the fly had 

 very often to travel a considerable distance down- 

 stream before it was taken ; but, by increasing 

 the number of flies on his cast, he increased like- 

 wise the possibility of one of them being accepted 

 at the moment of its alighting. The fly gently 

 touches the water, floats momentarily, and then it 

 would sink, but before it has time to sink a trout 

 looking upon it as a natural insect just arrived 

 from the air has sucked it down. 



Stewart was a dry-fly fisher who knew all the 

 intricacies of the game save one : it did not occur 

 to him to dress his flies with such materials as would 

 make them float or to oil them for the purpose of 

 preventing them sinking. Webster, of Clyde fame, 

 adopted the same methods, and " fished the stream/' 



In broad rivers containing wide-spreading streamy 

 shallows and great pools, such as Clyde or Tweed 



