STREAMCRAFT 



The commercial "Dri-Fli" or white paraffine 

 oil may be sprayed on dry flies with an atomizer 

 to assist flotation, or applied with a feather, etc. 

 (Reference was made in the first chapter to 

 Dr. Gove's "oil tip.") The writer has found 

 convenient the small tubular metal receptacle 

 with a screw cap, known as the "One-Drop" 

 oil-can. Or kerosene oil, carried in a small wide- 

 mouthed bottle, makes a perfectly efficient 

 "floatem" in which to immerse them; and for 

 the line, mutton-tallow is all the "deer-fat" 

 necessary. 



It is understood that the dry fly is cast up 

 and across stream and allowed to drift down 

 with the current uninfluenced by the angler, 

 and cocked, with wings erect; and that four or 

 five false casts are made into the air before per- 

 mitting it to alight each time. Blowing upon 

 the fly occasionally also assists in keeping 

 hackle and wings in shape. While the fly is 

 traveling downstream the left hand is em- 

 ployed in gathering in the slack, to keep the 

 line measurably taut in anticipation of the rise 

 of a fish, and the strike of the rodster which 

 should instantly follow it. The great obstacle 

 to the fly's floating down on the current in a 

 lifelike manner, insurmountable at times, is the 

 "drag," caused by the wind or current catching 

 the loop of the line between the rod-tip and the 

 cast and drawing the fly under. The only way 

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