r re face. xi 



its hitherto enthusiastic devotee, to say) any Thames 

 fishing, har trout, in future could afford a hobby I 

 have, perhaps, overridden, for it has excluded all 

 love of every other sport, or even games, indoors or 

 out : nor do I now care to catch trout or grayling, 

 or indeed any sort of fish, by any other lure than a 

 well -tied dry-fly. This is absolutely true, absurd as 

 it mav seem to some all-round fishermen. A dry- 

 fly purist has been described in euphuistic terms by 

 Mr. Horace Cox as " one thoroughly imbued with 

 the divine afflatus of fishing." 



It may be asked, what is a dry-fly purist ? Well, 

 after long pondering I fear it would appear 

 presumptuous on my part to attempt to answer the 

 (|iiestion as applied to other fly-fishers, but, taking 

 myself as a type, I believe I can give a very good 

 definition of him. 



He has gradually arrived at perfection in his 

 fascinating art, first of all and chiefly by constant 

 practice and experience ; by watching the methods 

 of experts by the river-side, and avoiding the 

 mistakes of some not yet expert ; by the discriminat- 

 ing choice of suitable rods, lines, casts, and flies, 

 landing net, &c. ; also by hints and knowledge 

 gained in reading the current angling literature of 

 the day, and modern books on the subject. To the 

 dry-fly purist no other sport can vie with it ; he 

 cares for no other sort of fishing (in my case for no 



