Practical Dry-Fly Fishing 



lish writer, advises the use of as large 

 a hook as possible even on English 

 streams, meaning, of course, a hook 

 that is not too large to prevent at 

 least an approximate resemblance to 

 the live insect. A larger hook is cer- 

 tainly more sure to engage itself in 

 the fish's mouth than one of the little 

 000, 00, or hooks so commonly used 

 by British anglers. It is held by Mr. 

 LaBranche and other American anglers 

 that it is much more difficult to keep 

 very small flies in a " floating condition " 

 than flies somewhat larger. In Eng- 

 land, where they fish the rise almost 

 exclusively, the fly is on the water 

 but infrequently, and has plenty of 

 opportunity to dry. But we fish " likely 

 spots," and the fly is floating a large 

 part of the time. Hence the difficulty 

 of keeping the small fly long in a suffi- 

 ciently dry condition to float properly. 



[421 



