IO2 Artificial-Fly Fishing. 



flies to sail over him, so as to permit of his see- 

 ing and seizing them if he feel inclined to do so. 

 Should a trout not take his fly the first time he 

 covers it, though then, certainly, the best chance of 

 capturing it is gone, he may cast over it again, or 

 even a third time if the fish continue rising. But 

 on no account let him dally, as some anglers do, 

 for hours over one fish in the hope of capturing 

 it at last ; for even should he not lose his labour 

 altogether, he will certainly lose much of his time 

 which might have been more profitably spent in 

 catering for the wants of the less fastidious fish. 

 Mr Francis tells us that he "stuck at a fish for 

 three-quarters of an hour, casting without stopping 

 as the fish kept rising." We are glad to be assured 

 that he met with his reward at last why, of 

 course, had he not, we should never have heard of 

 the exploit and we cannot but admire his patient 

 endurance in these literally trying circumstances ; 

 but no man who was not "playing" at angling- 

 would ever dream of spending as much as three-quar- 

 ters of an hour over the best " kipper " in Tweed. 



Mr Stewart says that, " as the moment the flies 

 alight is the most deadly of the whole cast, the 

 oftener it is repeated the better." This broad gen- 

 eral statement must be taken with some reservation. 

 It is undoubtedly sometimes perfectly true, but it is 

 just as often not true. It is indeed quite possible 



