18 FLOATING FLIES 



again, of the action imparted to the artificial fly 

 as compared with its coloration, size, or form. 

 Into matters of this sort it is needless to enter 

 here. The practical, common-sense point of 

 view would seem to be that neither the proper 

 color nor the correct imitative action of the ar- 

 tificial fly can safely be disregarded by the an- 

 gler; moreover, the size and the shape of the 

 artificial, varied to suit the occasion, are factors 

 of great importance. By the skilful employ- 

 ment of the modern tackle and methods of the 

 dry fly caster the angler approaches very closely 

 to the ideal principle of his craft exact imita- 

 tion of nature. 



Recalling a foregoing statement to the effect 

 that the American fly-caster, in general, has not 

 to any serious extent followed the theory of 

 exact imitation of nature; moreover, in view of 

 the fact that practically no artificial flies are to 

 be had dressed in imitation of the native insects 

 common to our trout waters, it should be obvi- 

 ous that the dry fly caster must continue to rely 

 upon artificials of English pattern or manu- 

 facture. It is a fact, however, that it is pos- 

 sible, provided your fly book is passably well 

 filled with various patterns, to approximate 

 very closely the appearance of many of the 

 natural insects you will see upon the water. 



