think nymph fishing will exactly solve the problem. The 

 same difficulty is everywhere apparent, and in Catskill 

 streams, like Esopus and Beaverkill, there are pools I know 

 for certain contain many large fish; there were times when 

 the devil himself seemed to have a hand in preventing every 

 angler, expert or duffer, from getting even a "sign" of a 

 trout. I know a Scotch angler, a splendid fly caster, whom 

 I met on the stream fishing a gob of worms nearly as large 

 as his fist. "Bob," said I, "what on earth are you trying 

 to get?" His reply was, "I'm sick of casting flies, which 

 I've stuck in my hat, and I hope to choke them with meat." 

 Just to tease him, from across the stream I held up two nice 

 fish from my creel, which made him yell across, "Oh, go 

 to that region where they don't have to use coal." 



Just a final word concerning the rig for nymphs. Be 

 sure to use a nice tapered leader with the nymphs tied neatly, 

 and it is far better to have any number of very small shot 

 than one or two large sinkers for two reasons, the large 

 sinker gets fouled in the pebbles and scares the fish. Try 

 to place the nymph where you think trout lie; don't let it 

 stay in one place; lift it slowly up several times; then move 

 to another situation. If trout do not take the nymph after 

 two or three lifts they are either not inclined or are not 

 there. Use small sized nymphs early in the season, either 

 pink, yellow or any light color. Early in May the larger 

 size yellow or dark color should be tried. One of my corre- 

 spondents writes: "I would rather fish the nymph up 

 stream because I can get much nearer the trout in fact, I 

 could drop it nicely nine feet ahead right over the trout's 



nose." 



Personally I like best to wade right down stream cast- 

 ing forward to each bank, then lead the nymph in slow 

 moves toward the middle. In slow running river deep pools 

 a light float will assist in carrying the nymph along the bot- 

 tom, where you cannot always wade or reach in casting. 

 The float keeps up the line, especially in lake fishing. Of 

 course, it is important to have the float adjusted to the right 

 depth of water, viz., the nymph to be from six to twelve 



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