CHAPTER IX 



That Cruel Thing, the "Drag" 

 and How Its Evil Effects May 

 Be Overcome 



HAVING learned the great part 

 that naturalness plays in dry- 

 fly angling, and that the action 

 of the fly upon the water must resem- 

 ble in all ways the movements of a 

 live insect similarly placed, we now 

 come, in the regular course of events, 

 to that bane of the dry-fly fisherman, 

 the "drag." It is easy to say that 

 the fly must at all times float down- 

 stream naturally with no other motion 

 than that imparted by the current; but, 

 while nothing impedes the life-like 

 action of the living insect, we cannot 

 overlook the fact that the little imi- 



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