The Fishing of Rivers with the Wet Fly 121 



the surface ; (5) cast repeatedly, and when 

 a trout takes the fly, tighten the line 

 instantly rather than " strike : >J then up 

 with the point of the rod and get"command 

 of your trout as soon as you can ; (6) finally, 

 net !him, if possible, just where you are 

 standing, in the water. Methodically con- 

 tinue to search the hang step by step 

 across the river, and back again, till you 

 have fished it completely out. 



Use two or even three flies. I prefer 

 two flies placed six feet apart, when I am 

 fishing in a dead calm, or wherever trout 

 are over-fished, to the usual three flies one 

 yard apart ; but I use, at times, only one. 



It is a very consoling thing, when one re- 

 turns with a light creel, to blame the weather. 

 As a rule, the best sky is a uniformly grey 

 one ("a grey day " is proverbial) ; the clouds 

 not low, but high; the day bracing, not 

 bitterly cold. In early spring, a blink of 

 sunshine now and again is very desirable ; 

 but in May or June, a hot sun with large 

 towering white " cumulus " clouds (full of 

 electricity, doubtless) is not a propitious 

 day for fly-fishing. A bright sunny day 

 without a single cloud, but with a gentle 

 breeze blowing up stream, I have often 

 found excellent. A dark, lowering day, 



