FLY-FISHING. 295 



cleanest and most elegant and gentlemanly of all 

 the methods of capturing trout. The angler who 

 practises it is saved the trouble of working with 

 worms, of catching, keeping alive, and salting min- 

 nows, or searching the river's bank for the natural 

 insect. Armed with a light single-handed rod and a 

 few flies he may wander from county to county, and 

 kill trout wherever they are to be found. 



But besides being the most attractive and valuable, 

 artificial fly-fishing is the most difficult branch of the 

 angler's art ; and this is another reason of the prefer- 

 ence accorded to it, since there is more merit, and there- 

 fore more pleasure, in excelling in what is difficult. 



But there is one great error in fly-fishing, as 

 usually practised, and as recommended to be practised 

 by books, and that is, that the angler " fishes down " 

 stream, whereas he should " fish up." 



We believe we are not beyond the mark in 

 stating that ninety-nine anglers out of a hundred fish 

 down with the artificial fly ; they never think of 

 fishing in any other way, and never dream of attri- 

 buting their want of success to it. Yet we are pre- 

 pared to prove, both in theory and practice, that this 

 is the greatest reason of their want of success in clear 

 waters. In all our angling excursions we have met 

 only one or two amateurs, and a few professionals, 

 who fished up stream with the fly, and used it in 

 a really artistic manner. If the wind is blowing up, 



