BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 11 



fly-fishing outfit are the fly-book and its contents. To se- 

 lect intelligently the flies upon which your 

 Trout Flies, success or non-success will very greatly 

 depend it is necessary to take into consid- 

 eration a number of facts known to be generally ap- 

 plicable. As a general rule avoid brilliant flies; flies 

 of subdued coloration, except in wilderness streams 

 where the trout will take anything, are practically the 

 only successful ones. Upon very dark days, or when 

 the water is slightly flooded and discolored, they should 

 be lighter in color and somewhat larger than those used 

 when both weather and water are clear. 



Flies of numbers eight, ten, and twelve, are gener- 

 ally the best, number eight being the most universally 

 effective, although late in the season, or at any time 

 when the stream is very low and clear, numbers ten and 

 twelve and occasionally even smaller are to be pre- 

 ferred. Personally I would be satisfied with the fol- 

 lowing trout flies in good quantity and range of sizes: 

 coachman, grizzly king, cowdung, Cahill, Beaverkill, 

 queen of the water, brown hackle, Montreal, and 

 March brown. 



A great deal depends upon the hooks on which the 

 flies are dressed. The Sproat hook, all things consid- 

 ered, is much the best. Above all things avoid cheap 

 flies; they are flimsily tied upon hooks of poor quality 

 and are far more deceiving to the tyro fly-fisher than 

 to the brook trout. It is a very good plan to use the 

 coachman, a consistently successful fly at all times and 

 seasons, for your end fly. The white wing of this fly 

 is easily seen in broken water, and sometimes when 



