82 FLOATING FLIES 



the currents whereon fly and line will rest, he 

 may cast a taut line over a place where the cur- 

 rents are actually moving in contrary direc- 

 tions, the fly may rest upon a " set-back " (a 

 current moving upstream) while the line is car- 

 ried downstream with the general trend of the 

 stream, in which case, if the natural current is 

 the stronger and a taut line is thrown, the fly 

 will drag upstream in relation to the current 

 whereon it floats, and across and generally 

 quite contrary to the action of the natural in- 

 sect in the same position. 



In the matter of preventing drag I think that 

 the one rule above all others for the sportsman 

 to observe is this: Before making a cast by 

 all means before casting over a rising fish 

 study carefully the trend of the currents which 

 may affect your line and fly. In other words, 

 the best way to alleviate drag lies in the ounce 

 of prevention which may be applied before the 

 cast is made. It is generally possible to cast 

 over any given place or over a rising trout from 

 a number of different points; one of these will 

 be found to offer the least chance of drag. 



The necessity of obviating drag, so far as 

 possible, arises from the fact that a shy trout, 

 feeding on the natural ephemeridae, is not apt 

 to rise to the imitation however good which 



