F L Y F ISHING IN THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER 



chased each other out of sight, and we will have 

 a beautiful night and a full moon." 



" Yes, Gills, my idea is to fish down to the point 

 of Quail Island, take a rest, and then give them 

 a haze ' by the light of the moon ' on the way back 

 to camp." 



" Agreed," said the others, and the three anglers 

 stepped into the stream. 



At this moment the wind freshened and whirled 

 around the bend of the river in fitful gusts, strik- 

 ing them upon the "starboard quarter," as the 

 sailor has it. This induced casts to the right, and 

 called for a strong wrist movement in order to lay 

 the line well out athwart the breeze, which would 

 sometimes catch the flies in their forward cast and 

 toss them upward, often holding them there sus- 

 pended and floating, feather-like, until a slight lull 

 would land them gently as a snowflake falling 

 upon the ruffled river. 



The Doctor was to wade straight across the 

 stream, some 200 feet wide, to fish its right bank; 

 Gills took the left side, and Mendy chose mid- 

 stream. 



To a rod expert the direction and wayward na- 

 ture of the wind was nervy and exciting. To a 

 bungler it was confusion and failure. But the 

 Doctor was a master. Holding the rod in his right 

 hand, just above the reel, with the thumb extended 

 and the fingers closely but not rigidly clasped, his 



91 



