TO FISH FLOATING FLY 83 



comes over it in an unusual way. A feeding 

 trout, possibly rising from a fixed vantage point 

 wherefrom it can easily see and capture the 

 duns floating down on the surface within strik- 

 ing distance, will, as a rule, rise only to the ar- 

 tificial fly which floats in an exactly similar man- 

 ner to that of the natural flies which come 

 within its vision. 



The novice should also bear this in mind and 

 religiously observe it: Avoid any upward or 

 backward motion of the rod at the instant when 

 the fly falls upon the water or immediately 

 thereafter. In line with this it may also be 

 said that no matter how fast the current may 

 be, the angler should never begin to strip in the 

 line until the fly is well started on its down- 

 stream journey. The seasoned wet fly-fisher- 

 man, upon his initial attempts at casting the 

 dry fly, will doubtless find that he has an habit- 

 ual tendency to raise the point of the rod at the 

 moment when the forward cast has been com- 

 pleted and the fly has just fallen upon the sur- 

 face of the stream; if this is done, the fly is at 

 once pulled under the surface drowned and 

 the habit is one which must be constantly re- 

 sisted. 



The same may be said of the tendency to be- 

 gin stripping in the line prematurely while it is 



