68 ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING. 



great temptation to a trout, but it may be much 

 better accomplished by dressing the flies of soft 

 materials, which the water can agitate, and thus 

 create a natural motion of the legs or wings of the 

 fly, than by dragging them by jumps of a foot at a 

 time across and up a roaring stream. Trout are 

 not accustomed to see small insects making such 

 gigantic efforts at escape, and therefore it is cal- 

 culated to awaken their suspicions. 



We believe that all fly-fishers fishing down must 

 have noticed, that apart from the moment of 

 alighting, they get more rises for the first few 

 yards of their flies' course than in the whole of the 

 remainder; and that when their flies fairly breast 

 the stream they seldom get a rise at all. The 

 reason of this is clear : for the first few feet after 

 the angler throws his flies across the stream they 

 swim with the current ; the moment, however, he 

 begins to describe his semicircle across the water, 

 they present an unnatural appearance, which the 

 trout view with distrust. Experienced fly-fishers 

 following the old method, who have observed 

 this, and are aware of the great importance of the 

 moment their flies alight, cast very frequently, 

 only allowing their flies to float down a few feet, 

 when they throw again. We have seen some 

 Tvveedside adepts fill capital baskets in this way ; 

 but, as we have before stated, it will only succeed 

 when the water is coloured, or when there is a 

 body of clear water sufficiently large to conceal the 



