48 THe Determined Angler 



appreciate the old rule: "When the day is bright 

 and where the water is clear, small flies and plain 

 colors; in deep and dull waters and on dark days and 

 in the evening the brighter and larger ones." Trout 

 do not in all cases show their liking to flies in accord- 

 ance with any condition of weather or water, though as 

 a rule it is advisable to use lighter colors when the day 

 and water are dull, which is not saying, however, that 

 fish will not rise to loud flies on bright days or sober 

 flies in dull weather, for the tastes of trout vary like 

 the tastes of other living things, and nothing can 

 equal them in erraticness when fly-feeding. 



You must give fontinalis sport, for he very often 

 strikes for play more than food, and, like every other 

 living thing, loves a choice of variety. 



There is an old story that if the Angler's book has a 

 pattern of fly in exact imitation of the real fly upon the 

 trout water, he has but to join it as the stretcher to 

 fill his creel. Ogden tells us in so many words : " Give 

 not the trout an exact imitation of the real fly upon 

 the water, for your artificial fly will then be one in a 

 thousand. Something startling will please them 

 better loud gold body, strange-colored wings and 

 an odd fellow may take it for sport if nothing else." 



While this is a good bit of advice, it does not seem 

 right to me to send it forth in such a sweeping manner. 

 The question of whether we should imitate nature in 

 general fly building has long been in vogue. Some 

 say we should do so, and others that it does not matter. 

 Both are correct there are times when we should 

 copy the living flies, and times when we should use 

 those artificial things that have no resemblance to 

 nature's insects. I have come upon a water where 

 the trout were rising to the small dusky miller, and 



