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from time to time, or that there is not a ' fashion ' in such matters 

 with fish as with fishers. I merely suggested the three patterns as 

 a practical illustration of my theory, because with them I had 

 found that I could kill fish in a great variety of streams and lakes. 

 The flies were, in fact as their name implies designed merely 

 as ' types ' and as such, of course, open to endless modification 

 and extension. This is one reason, amongst others, why I have 

 always refused to supply either tackle makers or individual anglers 

 with patterns of them. Having suggested a few broad principles, 

 I left others to accept, reject, or work upon them. 



I am especially anxious not to let the present opportunity pass 

 without these observations, because since my typical flies were 

 submitted to the public, the practice of using floating flies, then 

 confined to the comparatively few, has largely extended. Dry fly 

 fishing has of late years become a generally recognised branch of 

 the art, especially in England, and in so far as such practice is 

 concerned my theories have no application. My hackle flies of 3 

 colours were only intended to be used wet, the then generally 

 prevalent fashion. The moment we come to presenting the fly 

 dry and passively floating, all the conditions are changed. A trout 

 taking the floating (natural) fly lies quietly watching and waiting 

 close to the surface of the water ; and unless the insect passes 

 right over his nose, or within a few inches to one side or the 

 other, he will most commonly not trouble himself even if he sees 

 it at all (which is doubtful) to move after it. Hence he ha 

 ample opportunity for a careful scrutiny of the lure before making 

 up his mind to take or reject it; and such being the case I am by 

 no means prepared to fix, even in my own mind, a limit to the 

 exactness of imitation of the fly on which the fish are feeding 

 that may be possible or desirable. 



A careful perusal of such books as Mr. F. M. Halford's 

 " Floating Flies and How to Dress Them," and Mr. E. T. Pritt's 

 "Flies of the North Country," and Mr. H. S. Hall's " Chalk Stream 



