FLIES AND FLY FISHIXG. 77 



Trout are even more capricious at the minnow than 

 they are at the fly. I have often during a whole day 

 brought fish after fish out from under the banks and 

 following my bait up to my very feet, without getting 

 one run, whilst on other days they will come like bull- 

 dogs, and you hardly miss one, and on others they run 

 at the bait, but in a very undecided way, and you miss 

 killing several that are slightly hooked. 



"When minnow fishing throughout the day a good 

 ripple on the water is always advantageous. I prefer a 

 boisterous day, providing it is warm, but in the early 

 mornings, and also in the evening it is better that it 

 should be warm and calm. 



The first yard or two from the heads of streams is the 

 most likely place to get a run, and anywhere that the 

 bank much overhangs the river, or where there is any 

 shallow still water on one side of a deep stream. But 

 one of the first qualifications necessary before becoming a 

 workman at this style of fishing is to have a good eye for 

 minnow water. It is a very uncommon thing to meet a 

 real good fisherman with the minnow who can work his 

 bait properly in cramped wooded streams and brooks; 

 for one who can fish thus, you find numbers of fair 

 performers with the fly. Whenever you see a fish 



