TO FISH FLOATING FLY 101 



halted by the accurate rise of a trout. The 

 spent spinners ("spent gnats ") also serve as 

 food for the trout the male when it has com- 

 pleted the act of procreation and falls to the 

 stream, the female when all the eggs have 

 been voided. 



Excluding, then, bottom-feeding or tailing 

 fish, also fish feeding upon nymphs either in 

 mid-water or, as noted, practically upon the 

 surface, the trout feed upon the Ephemeridae 

 first as duns and subsequently when, as spin- 

 ners, the female floats on the surface when 

 voiding her eggs, and upon both males and fe- 

 males when spent. Before casting to a rising 

 trout the angler should, as far as may be, 

 determine the nature of the rise and the fly 

 to which it was made. The question of the 

 right fly having been decided, it remains only 

 for the angler to put the fly over the fish in 

 the right way. 



When you see the rise of a presumably feed- 

 ing trout, spot it carefully; that is, make very 

 sure of the exact spot where the fish rose. Un- 

 less this is done it will be necessary to wait for 

 another rise, which may never come, or to cast 

 haphazardly over the approximate place, 

 which usually results in failure. As a general 

 rule the artificial must travel in practically the 



