70 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



smooth water and on calm days, the flies should be only 



slightly submerged in fact, should be 



The Surface fished qu j te Qn the sur f acCj sinking only 



to the extent caused by their weight. 

 This may be attained by always keeping the point of 

 the rod well up and taking care to strip in the line with 

 the proper rapidity. If the line becomes too slack or 

 the rod point drops too low the flies will become 

 drowned at once. They should as far as possible be 

 allowed to follow the natural trend of the current, just 

 as a derelict insect would float, following through the 

 eddies and whirls without noticeable restraint from the 

 line. You may be sure that trout know where to lie 

 in the stream in order to intercept insects floating down 

 with the current ; and that if your flies follow the natu- 

 ral course of the current in a natural manner, they will 

 pass over the majority of the best "lies" in a way calcu- 

 lated to produce results. 



A very foxy cast is to drop your flies on a patch of 

 floating foam. Do not immediately drag the flies 



through the foam but allow them to lie 

 A roxy U pon and float with it, exactly as the 



natural insect caught in this manner 

 would do, finally sinking through. Foam patches col- 

 lect numbers of insects and the trout know this. 



The method of casting above described, at right 

 angles to the current, is the one to tie to ; it is the best 



way to fish the flies under almost all con- 

 TT ' vr ditions. But, of course, there are times 



and places when and where this method 

 is impracticable. Often it is impossible to reach a 



