Introduction 



fly had to be devised. As a matter of 

 fact, any angling writer who thought 

 for a moment that he could go over 

 the technical ground covered by Mr. 

 Frederic M. Halford, the greatest of 

 English writers on dry-fly methods, and 

 do it successfully without much repe- 

 tition, or suggest many new or start- 

 ling improvements over Mr. Halford's 

 methods, would, indeed, exhibit a self- 

 assurance that would be most abnor- 

 mal, and he might properly be called an 

 eccentric. Mr. Halford did not invent 

 the dry-fly; but he has been an an- 

 gling enthusiast from his boyhood days. 

 He has been the happy possessor of a 

 keen and studious mind. His one 

 hobby throughout his long life has 

 been the dry-fly. Most fortunately he 

 has had almost unlimited time to de- 

 vote to its study, and as a result he is 

 the greatest recognized authority on 



[viii] 



