40 FLY FISHING 



others rising, and if there is a free rise and 

 plenty of fly, the angler will in May get the 

 best conditioned fish in comparatively quick 

 running water in the main stream. The first 

 half-hour will decide what kind of rise there is 

 to be, whether it is to be a good taking one 

 or not: if it is a good one, the angler should 

 feel for the next two hours that there is at any 

 rate a fair chance of his having a rise whenever 

 he can succeed in floating his fly satisfactorily 

 and accurately over a rising trout. Should the 

 rise last as much as four hours, it is a long one 

 and ought to result in an exceptionally heavy 

 basket. I have generally found, however, that in 

 the last hour or so of the rise the trout become 

 very fastidious and particular. Sometimes they 

 can be seen still in their feeding places, keeping 

 close to the surface of the water, but only taking 

 a fly occasionally, and the angler may, till he is 

 weary, float his own fly over them continually 

 and get no response whatever. As a rule, on a 

 fairly warm day the rise of fly will be over by 

 three or four o'clock. The trout will by then 

 have disappeared, and the angler may leave off. 

 Bad luck or good luck may have made the dif- 



