Fly-Fishing for Trout 47 



teresting. The day I took my creel of eighteen was a 

 fair one; we had rain the day before; the water was 

 clear and the stream was in ordinary condition. The 

 brown hackle which killed twelve of the eighteen was 

 on a No. 8 hook; the other two flies were tied on No. 

 1 6, as the hackle should have been, for the fish were 

 small and the stream was in a small-fly condition and 

 quite right for the daintiest leaders and the finest 

 midges. But the hackle seemed to please the trout; 

 all sizes appeared to jump at it. I hooked many that 

 were not over three inches long ! Several times when 

 taking my flies from the water for a new cast, I lifted 

 a poor little trout up in the air back of me, like the 

 scurvy fisherman who makes a practice of landing all 

 his fish by yanking them out. So you see it pays to be 

 patient on the stream and try all sorts of gentle tricks 

 with fontinalis. You must not hurry; you must not 

 be coarse; you must not be careless and untidy with 

 your fly-book. Take your time, fish slowly, surely, 

 and delicately. Be not weary of the play: banish the 

 thought of discouragement, keep at the sport for sport 

 alone, and study as you angle. 



A little trout will rise to a fly he has missed one or 

 more times; a large trout will seldom do so. When 

 you miss a big trout do not give him back the fly for 

 ten minutes, and then if you miss him again, change 

 the pattern, wait a little while, and he is once more 

 ready for the rise if the new fly suits him. 



f never raised a trout on the scarlet ibis fly. I 

 believe it is a poor color on the well-fished waters, just 

 as I believe that all flies are killing on wild streams. 

 New trout will take old flies ; old trout love new ones 

 and many old ones. Personally I like the sober colors 

 in flies for all seasons on all water, though I well 



