FLY-FISHING. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTION. 



HAVING read papers on Fly-fishing before the 

 Gresham and Islington Angling Societies, 

 and contributed occasional articles to the fishing 

 periodicals, I have been persuaded by some of the 

 members of those societies to publish my ideas on 

 the subject, and I now submit them to the public, 

 premising that the following treatise is neither 

 historic nor scientific, but simply an endeavour to 

 communicate what nearly fifty years of practice and 

 careful observation have taught me to consider as 

 correct principles in a concise and practical form. 

 Trusting that it will be received as such, and will be of 

 some assistance to young anglers in cultivating that, 

 which, we are assured by the highest authority on 

 angling, is " an art worth learning." 



In preparing this short treatise I have assumed, 

 what is generally admitted by fishermen, that catching 

 trout with an artificial fly is the highest branch of 

 the piscatorial art ; for, although some bottom-fishers 

 and spinners claim that as much skill is required in 

 their branch as is in fly-fishing, yet I think the 

 palm must be yielded to the fly-fisher. It differs in 

 many respect from all other kinds. The greatest care 



