16 FLIES AND FLY FISHING, 



Supposing there to be a good rise of the Hue dun on, 

 in the month of February, on this fly the fish (whether 

 trout or grayling) are steadily feeding. Place on your 

 oast imitations of both the blue and yellow duns, and fish 

 with these, you will find that every fish you kill has taken 

 the Hue dun the exact imitation of the fly on the water. 

 The yellow dun rising no fish. 



The curious thing is that men who assert that any fly 

 will kill when the fish are taking, yet themselves use 

 different flies for spring, summer and autumn ; but, 

 I believe, it is impossible for a fisherman, with any real 

 experience, to hold any other idea than that the artificial 

 fly is a successful lure only in its imitating closely a 

 particular fly. Some of the arguments used by writers 

 in direct opposition to this are curiously incorrect. 



One says that his experience proves that fish nearly 

 always take the bob fly, when they show a preference as 

 it is the fly first presented to them. I can only say if 

 that is his idea of fly fishing he must have had very few 

 chances of discovering that fish take the artificial fly 

 at all. 



Another arguing against exactly imitating the natural 

 fly says : " The artificial fly is presented to the fish 

 under water. Wet, instead of dry, and in brisk motion, 



