26 DOWN STREAM UP STREAMDRY FLY. 



and will allow all sunken or semi-sunken food 

 to pass, it follows that the man who can 

 imitate the live insect by placing an artificial 

 fly so as to actually sit upon the water and 

 can throw it so that it floats down without 

 drag at just the natural pace of the current 

 will succeed in deceiving a fish where other 

 devices have failed. 



It is as a rule not wise, however neatly one 

 may cast, to throw more than three timep over 

 a trout. If he takes no notice the best plan 

 is to wait and watch him feed again. During 

 this time the pattern of the fly can be quickly 

 changed; and if this change takes the form of 

 a smaller fly so much the better. 



One of the great pleasures, and distinctions, 

 of this method is that the angler sees the 

 whole process. Often he sees the dim outline 

 of the fish in the water, and often making 

 his cast can watch the fly alight and see the 

 actual movement of the trout as it rises to seize 

 it. The fly disappears, and as the fish turns 

 down after taking it the strike is made by 

 slightly lifting the rod. Then follows the great 

 reward; or the extreme disappointment of a 

 check, a struggle and the sickening sensation 

 of a slack line almost hitting you in the face, 

 sometimes with the hook intact, sometimes with 

 barb gone, and sometimes with gut severed at 

 the eye, having been worn thin by frequent 

 casting, or frayed by contact with weed on the 

 waters in front or the meadows behind. 



A very common experience of those who have 



