74 FLOATING FLIES 



imitation of the natural fly than is the average 

 wet fly. Under like circumstances the natural 

 insect acts in a similar manner, that is, is 

 drawn under the surface in broken water and 

 carried here and there by conflicting currents. 

 For some time it has been my custom to use 

 dry flies for wet fly fishing, but I would em- 

 phasize the fact that fishing a drowned dry 

 fly in white water is hardly genuine dry fly 

 fishing and that any resultant success must be 

 accredited to the wet fly method. Any state- 

 ment to the effect that the dry fly may be used 

 in the rapids of any trout stream where white 

 water is the rule must be taken with a grain 

 of salt and with due allowance for the en- 

 thusiasm of the man who makes it. 



In any stream the swift runs where the water 

 is smooth may be very effectively fished with 

 the dry fly; taking an average of American 

 trout streams, excepting the smaller rocky, 

 mountain brooks (generally a succession of 

 shallow, rough rapids with comparatively few 

 smooth places) it may be said that a fly may 

 be quite successfully floated over probably 

 three-quarters of the water comprised. By 

 smooth water I do not wish to be understood 

 as meaning absolutely flat water the floating 

 fly will ride a wave or a succession of them 



