162 PRACTICAL FLY FISHING 



the hearing ability of the trout ! But be careful about 

 scuffing the feet on the bottom of the boat or knocking 

 the oars against it as such sounds carry great distances 

 under water. 



A river can be fished by hauling the boat upstream a 

 day's float; by going down one side of the stream and 

 working up the other; by floating down to a trysting 

 place and being hauled back at night or, on the last day, 

 floating to the next town and shipping the boat back. 

 On some large rivers best success is had by fishing up 

 stream. 



Casting from a boat sometimes is difficult for the 

 man used to wading. Striking the water behind on 

 the back cast perhaps does no more harm than to slow 

 up the cast a trifle but it looks " bunglesome " and a 

 high back cast avoids it. When the young angler 

 finds himself " tipping " the water behind him he can 

 keep his fly up by slightly raising the casting arm at 

 the end of the back cast. 



Sometimes on these deep rivers fly fishing is profit- 

 less as the bass congregate in the deep holes. A ques- 

 tion arises: under these conditions is the true fly fisher 

 justified in using a worm or other lowly bait. In my 

 opinion it depends on how much he wants fish. If, 

 for example, the " missus " has threatened to buy no 

 meat for the next day and has hinted that an empty 

 basket means no more trips for the season, then the 

 canny angler will use anything short of dynamite and 

 all of us, to a man, will voice him the time-honored 

 anglers' bywords : good luck ! 



