CHAPTER IV 



FLY-FISHING 



"Of all sports, commend me to angling; it is the wisest, vir- 

 tuousest, best. "THOMAS HOOD. 



WHEN I go fishing, it is for the purpose of catching 

 fish; when I go angling fly-fishing it is the soul I 

 seek to replenish, not the creel. 



'' One of the charms of angling, " says Pritt, "is that 

 it presents an endless field for argument, speculation, 

 and experiment." 



True, but Anglers have no argument in the first 

 feature of their pastime the object of it. Fishermen 

 and men wno do not go fishing or angling argue that 

 the object sought by the Angler is the fish, but Anglers 

 all agree that the game is but one of the trillion of 

 pleasant things that attract them to the pursuit of it. 



They argue and speculate and experiment in the 

 matter of rods and tackle, and they argue as to 

 the virtues of the various species, the qualities of the 

 waters, the conditions of the weather, but they have 

 ever been and ever will be calmly agreed as to the 

 object of it all the love of studying rather than de- 

 stroying the game, the love of the pursuit itself. 



They angle because of its healthfulness, and the 

 consequent exhilaration of mind and body that 

 attends the gentle practice, not merely for the fishes 



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