Favorite Fish and Fishing 



of the gentle art. And this, at the same 

 time, is as it should be. One who has had 

 more success with certain flies than with 

 others, all things being equal, should pin 

 his faith to them. And this, moreover, ex- 

 plains why there is such an extensive list to 

 choose from in the fly-tier's catalogue, which 

 contains the preferences of many genera- 

 tions of fly-fishers. 



Philosophy of The question as to the best fly to use at 

 certain seasons, or at any season, is a vexed 

 one. Whether it is the colored dressing of 

 the fly, or its form, that is most enticing to 

 the fish, will perhaps never be known, ex- 

 cept approximately. Of the long list of 

 named artificial flies the choice of most 

 anglers has been narrowed to a score or 

 two, and for the only reason that they have 

 been more or less successful with them. We 

 are apt to look at the matter from our own 

 viewpoint, and often without reference to 

 that of the fish. 



Reasoning from the appearance of arti- 

 ficial flies in general, it would seem that on 

 a fretted surface almost any one of the 



74 



