274 DRY-FLY FISHING 



hatch nor rise ; difficulty attends the selection 

 of a fly, but memory of past successes decides in 

 favour of the Rough Olive for the tail, and the 

 dropper we elect to reserve for experimental pur- 

 poses. The first choice for that position is the Green- 

 well Quill. These are two of the finest patterns 

 ever made, and the presence of either on the cast 

 gives the confidence necessary. 



Like all anglers, we have our notions and fads, 

 and one of these is now in evidence. We confess 

 that only when a good healthy rise is in progress 

 do we select a new fly, that, when there is little or 

 no activity amongst the trout, we submit for their 

 inspection a fly that has already seen much service 

 and accounted for several fish. After much experi- 

 ence day after day on the same river we have been 

 forced to the conclusion that a well-used fly, pro- 

 vided that it is complete in every detail, is infinitely 

 more effective than a brand new specimen that has 

 never been laid upon the water. There is a great 

 temptation to use one, so bright in all its glory of 

 freshness, so attractive to angler's eye, but the trout 

 require something more than beauty. 



After a fly has been dragged under water a few 

 times, whisked backwards and forwards through 

 the air, removed from the mouths of two or three 

 trout, the wings divide out more or less into their 

 separate fibres, and thus acquire a transparency 

 which is more natural than a heavy opacity. We 

 are convinced that the trout are less suspicious of 

 such a lure, though when well on the rise they will 

 readily accept a fly out on its maiden voyage. 

 Therein, too, we believe, lies the deadliness of the 

 hackled pattern, in which the wing is only suggested. 



