FLY FISHING FOE TEOUT. 105 



where the trout are small and unsophisticated, would you 

 do this. No! though you cast down you let your fly 

 travel down with the stream as far as you can, just as you 

 do when fishing or casting up stream ; you merely cast 

 rather short, and, letting the fly fall in the water, with the 

 rod pretty upright, so as to have a good supply of line in 

 hand, lower the rod slowly until you can let no more, and 

 under these circumstances this very often (if you can keep 

 well out of sight) answers as well or better than fishing up 

 to fish, because the fly, and not the line, comes over his 

 nose first. This is called drifting, and by the practice of 

 it I have caught many good trout on bright days and 

 stillish water, but it requires much care and caution, not 

 to say usage, to do it well ; but the great bulk of the 

 casting is made rather across, than either up or down. 

 You see a fish rise, and you cast across and above him, 

 and let the fly travel down so as to come over his nose, but 

 to let as little of the line do so as possible. The first and 

 last object of the fly fisher is to show as much of his fly to 

 the fish as possible, and as little of anything else. Let 

 that be his constant and unvarying study if he desires to 

 catch fish, for it is the backbone of fly fishing. In fishing 

 with the wet fly in the early months, you fish down stream 

 if the wind is adverse, but you cast across and let the fly 

 sweep round ; at such times, however, you do not wait to 

 see rises but fish the water on the chance of one. 



Always pay particular attention to the fish which you 

 see rising under the banks ; and don't be deluded into the 

 notion that because you see a fish make no more break on 

 the water than a minnow would, that he is a minnow, for 

 he is quite as likely to be a three pounder. It is strange 

 how quietly a big fish will often take fly after fly, close to 

 a bank, with only just his upper lip put to the surface to 



