USING THE WET FLY. 97 



cast or a tangle, or too late, in which case he finds 

 that his flies have gone to ground by a horrid jar 

 through his rod ; or his sweep may become a jerk, 

 and then he will hear a crack in the air behind him, 

 and will in all probability find that one of his flies 

 has been cracked off. But when once he has learnt 

 to time his cast properly and to make rod and line 

 respond to each other, he will realise what old 

 anglers mean when they talk about "feeling the 

 fly" at the end of the line. With angler, rod, and 

 line working in harmony it really is almost possible 

 to know exactly what one's fly is doing from the 

 feeling of the cast. 



After, say, half an hour of practice the novice 

 may feel emboldened to try and catch a fish. First 

 let him wade into the stream till he is up to his 

 knees and about halfway across, using the handle 

 of his net as a wading-staff in case of holes and for 

 support. Then let him cast his flies up and across 

 stream. The tail-fly should fall close under the 

 far bank and the dropper somewhat nearer ; two 

 dimples will inform him where the flies are, and he 

 must note them carefully. Once in, the flies must 

 be allowed to float down with the stream without 

 either assistance or check. The angler will not be 

 able to see them, but must guess their position by 



estimating the pace of the stream. Also he must 



H 



