168 DRY-FLY FISHING 



As a rule, therefore, we would make no effort to 

 reach it at once; but instead fish quietly and 

 gradually up to it, and while doing so we might be 

 fortunate enough to see the trout break the surface 

 again. If not, we would search the vicinity care- 

 fully and thoroughly, and we might capture not 

 only the fish we had seen rising but one or two 

 besides. 



What the angler should note is that in a stream 

 connected with a pool, trout collect for the purpose 

 of feeding, not after the hatch of flies occurs, but 

 in expectation of it. If a few trout are seen rising 

 in the stream, the conclusion is that others would 

 rise also, if there were flies enough; therefore the 

 angler should cast his dry-fly not only to the rising, 

 but also to the expectant, trout. 



Now there are many ways of presenting the flies 

 when one is "fishing the stream." The cast may 

 be delivered directly upstream or at right angles 

 to the current, or at any angle between these two 

 directions. 



The angler, who has plenty of time at his disposal 

 and infinite patience at his command, would pos- 

 sibly take from one stance and with one length of 

 line a number of casts between the limits mentioned, 

 draw off a yard of line and repeat the process, 

 and so continue until he was casting his maximum 

 length, or, alternatively, reaching the opposite bank ; 

 he would then step forward a yard or two and go 

 through the sequence again, proceeding in this 

 way until he arrived at the strong rush at the neck ; 

 but such a systematic way of going about the 

 business is beyond the powers of most mortals. 

 There is no question, however, that a long stream 



