56 FLOATING FLIES 



scientific details of the various processes which 

 produce the completed photograph. This, cer- 

 tainly, is not at all the state of mind with which 

 to take up dry fly fishing, or, for that matter, 

 angling of any sort. In fact, the dry fly man 

 should be a student of causes as well as of ef- 

 fects, for the simple reason that only in com- 

 paratively rare instances can the desired effect 

 be produced unless the angler knows the under- 

 lying cause and proceeds to utilize it prac- 

 tically. This is particularly true of the selec- 

 tion and manipulation of the floating fly and, in 

 a lesser but quite considerable degree, of cast- 

 ing the fly. 



Almost every book on angling contains a 

 more or less understandable treatise on fly-cast- 

 ing, and it is only for the benefit of the virtual 

 beginner at fly-fishing for trout, and further 

 with a view to completeness and the emphasiz- 

 ing of certain points which even the old hand is 

 prone to forget or possibly neglect through 

 carelessness that the following brief explana- 

 tion is incorporated here. Casting the floating 

 fly differs little essentially from the manner of 

 casting the sunken fly; in detail, however, the 

 difference is very great. 



Casting the floating fly divides naturally into 

 two quite distinct phases; first, the actual cast 



