FISHING WITH THE NATURAL FLY. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Dipping, Dabbing, or Daping. 



DURING the beats and droughts of summer, when the 

 waters are low and clear, and the fish betake themselves 

 to the shadow of the water-lilies and weeds, both the bot- 

 tom and the fly-fisher may practise fishing with the natural 

 fly. Indeed, it varies agreeably the somewhat monotonous 

 pastime of the bottom-fisher ; and there are few rivers 

 where it may not be practised, wherever a trout, grayling, 

 chub, or, occasionally, a carp or roach may be found. It 

 is a practice only adapted for such streams as have over- 

 hanging banks, shaded by foliage and fringed with shrubs, 

 which hide the person of the angler. The art of dipping 

 is simply to drop a natural fly, fixed on your hook, so 

 gently on to the surface of the water that it may seem but 

 the sportive tendency of the insect, and not the artificial 

 line of the angler. It is a somewhat difficult operation to 

 do this successfully, for it requires a light hand, light 

 tackle, and the most delicate manipulation. 



Let us see the tackle necessary to practise this quiet, s<*- 



