DRY -FLY PRELIMINARIES. 119 



have known it kill very well in the daytime now 

 and then. It is worthy of a trial when other flies 

 have failed. 



Having his flies the novice must learn how to 

 attach them to the gut. The knot most commonly 

 used, which really serves every purpose, is depicted 

 on Plate I., fig. 6. The noose shown is slipped 

 down over the eye of the fly, and the gut is then 

 pulled tight. Many anglers are content to pass 

 the end of gut through once in forming the noose ; 

 but doing it twice is no more trouble, and renders 

 the chance of the knot slipping more remote. 

 Casts for dry-fly fishing do not need so much 

 making up as for the wet fly ; the two-yard 

 tapered casts already procured serve as a 

 foundation, and one simply attaches to them one, 

 two, or three points of varying strength, according 

 to the conditions. On a rough, windy day one 

 point is quite enough, if indeed a point is necessary 

 at all. It is very much easier to get one's fly out 

 nicely in a wind with a short cast than with a long 

 one. On a calm, bright day, on the other hand, I 

 I like my cast to be three yards long or even more, 

 that is to say, I attach three points. 



How strong the points should be depends largely 

 on circumstances. Some of the best dry-fly men 

 do not use drawn gut at all, and they advise others 



