90 FLOATING FLIES 



patible with safety, constantly bearing in mind 

 the well-known very acute vision of the trout. 

 The chances of failing to hook a rising fish or 

 of eventually losing a fish successfully fastened 

 increase measurably with the length of line in 

 use. Moreover, with a short line it is easier 

 to prevent drag because there is less line upon 

 the water. On windy days when the ordinarily 

 smooth reaches are choppy, and always when 

 fishing the swifter, broken runs, a thirty, even 

 a twenty-five-foot cast is ample, if you are fish- 

 ing nearly upstream and take pains to swing 

 the rod low. On several occasions, having al- 

 lowed my fly to float down very close to me in 

 order to lift it from the water without wetting 

 (if you lift your fly from the water when it is 

 well away from you, the pull upon the sub- 

 merged leader drags it under), I have had a 

 rise less than five feet away. 



But to successfully fish close-up, the angler's 

 progress must be slow, careful, and quiet, and 

 the rod must be kept down low. Overhead 

 motion, more than anything else, alarms the 

 fish. You have only to pass your hand over a 

 can of fingerling trout fresh from the hatch- 

 ery to verify this and to appreciate the instinc- 

 tive alarm of trout at anything moving in the 

 air above them. Avoid quick motions in 



