72 FLY FISHING 



docs any portion of the gut fall. There arc 

 days, however, when with all these precautions 

 trout will not stand the sight of gut, and if 

 so, as a last resort the angler must try to float 

 his fly down stream over fish in these positions. 1 

 A whole chapter might be written on the draw- 

 backs to this particular method. It is neces- 

 sary first to make an ugly slack cast, but so 

 that the fly falls free at the end, and floats in 

 a direct line above the fish ; then the angler, by 

 lowering the point of his rod and crawling 

 along the bank, does his utmost to ease the 

 line down stream and to prevent it from 

 dragging the fly back. If everything goes well 

 there is a really good chance of a rise, but 

 also a good chance of the hook being pulled 

 straight out of the fish's mouth when the strike 

 is made. Sometimes very shy trout are caught 

 by this method, but sometimes they do not rise 

 to the first cast, or the fly floats rather to one 

 side of them, and then all is over. When once 

 the fly is past the trout, there is nothing left 



1 The delicate and difficult device of thus fishing down stream is 

 often described by anglers as " drifting " the dry fly. It is often the 

 only way, especially in strong, rapid waters such at the Derbyshire 

 Wye, of avoiding the drag. EDS. 



