72 THe Determined Angler 



season if it were not copied from the living fly? Of 

 course, there are some artificial flies that are not 

 copied from nature, but the artificial fly in general is a 

 duplicate of the living thing. " When a fly is said to 

 be in season, " says Alfred Ronalds, "it does not follow 

 that it is abroad on every day of its existence." 

 But, our opinions must not be harshly expressed 

 rather set forth "in pleasant discourse," as Walton 

 says for, as Pritt tells us, "one of the charms of 

 angling is that it presents an endless field for argument, 

 speculation, and experiment." 



After the foregoing excerpt and my comment upon 

 it appeared in the New York Press (Sept. n, 1915), 

 I wrote several of the authorities mentioned, asking 

 their views on the subject, and following will be found 

 their replies. 



Henry van Dyke, author of Little Rivers, Days Off, 

 Fisherman's Luck, etc. : 



For flies as "wet," or flies as "dry," 



I do not care a whit not I ! 



The natural fly is dry, no doubt, 



While through the air he flits about; 



But, lighting on the stream, you bet 



He very often gets quite wet. 



This fact is known to all the fish; 



They take their flies just as they wish, 



Upon the surface or below, 



Precisely why we do not know. 



The honest Angler should not be 



A man of rigid theory, 



But use the most alluring fly, 



And sometimes "wet," and sometimes "dry." 



Louis Rhead, author of The Book of Fish and Fishing: 

 "After thirty-two years' active fishing for trout, 

 beginning with a worm as a bait, I have developed 



