EFFECT OF RAIN. 



predecessors. He had wjell understood the failure of the small, short- 

 hackled fly, how, amongst other faults, it was played, not with clock-work 

 precision, but by shaking the rod about as though a wasp had settled on 

 the top ring ; he stands well away from the fish, aims more across the 

 water than usual, in order that his fly should not unduly dwell over the 

 Catch, and "mends his cast " immediately it is made. Should his fly be 

 of an ordinary type, he uses an extra length of line, and never plays the 

 lure till it readies the middle part of the stream. He uses the ordinary 

 type, and trusts to other principles in his method for those streams which 

 are very open, not a tree or a bank to shelter them, upon every occasion 

 when the day has grown brighter, not forgetting to have plenty of tinsel 

 round the body silver in the morning, gold in the afternoon and plenty 

 of Grey Mallard, or Teal, or even Summer Duck in the wings. 



Of course, there is a limit in all things, and when we say " Use the 

 fly which shows best under certain conditions," the exact signification of 

 the word " best " can only be realised by correct calculations and 

 observations. Flies which look well under a clear sky with the sun 

 behind them look wretched in rain, and yet, as it may now be understood, 

 circumstances sometimes compel us to use them. 



In connection with rain, the worst of it is, and the truth of it is, we 

 know very little about the effects of it on fish ; but having had my mind 

 directed to the subject, I have obtained a certain advantageous knowledge. 

 I shall, however, make no endeavour to satisfy the exacting demands of 

 the serious student of the problem for a complete exposition of the details 

 that would be a feat of no mean order for any Salmon-angler. Yet it 

 is certain that rain may either make our fortunes or leave us worse off 

 than before. A good flood in an uninhabited and uncultivated district is 

 invariably favourable to sport in certain parls of the river ; but a heavy 

 thunderstorm often thickens the water without raising it much, and keeps 

 it altogether out of ply, particularly on slow-running rivers, for many 

 days. 



I have known a man fishing in heavy rain under a wood, at that 

 season of the year when the sap rises, plod on and on and never stir a 

 fin ; whilst in the open waters above excellent sport was being obtained. 

 My note book told me of this, though I failed to discover any explanation 



