FLIES AXD FLY FISHING. 35 



say many when reading this, will think of the advice in 

 Walton, to " use your hat when you have no net," hut it 

 is quite wonderful how awkward many men are with the 

 net ; and if you do even so small a thing as landing your 

 fish always wrong, your take of fish will he less in the 

 year than it would otherwise be. The net should bo held 

 below the fish, and the latter allowed to go with the stream 

 into it and not the net brought up to thefisli. 



Always fish with a sunk fly. I believe what is called 

 dry fly fishing to be utter nonsense ; as I have before 

 stated, the sunk artificial fly has all the appearance of the 

 dry live fly on the surface, and even if you could keep 

 your fly floating, which (except perhaps in the case of a 

 May fly as large as a humming bird), no one can do, how- 

 ever much they may talk about it, you could not make it 

 have the appearance of the natural fly, because in that 

 position half the fly would look ah've and the other half 

 dead to the fish. 



It is advisable to consider the habits of flies before 

 deciding whether they are to be placed on the cast as 

 droppers or to lead. All spinners and flies that are con- 

 stantly flitting up and down should be used as drop flics, 

 as they travel through the water in a more natural way 



when in that position, whilst flies like the oak, fern, brown 



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