40 THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY 



difference in appearance of a fly with the light between 

 it and the fish and a fly between the fish and the light. 

 The day, however, was very overcast. 



A May fly was the first subject — one tied with summer 

 duck wings, red hackle and tail, and a brown dappled 

 pseudo-natural body — a most effective pattern, by the way, 

 in Southern Germany. The first thing we noticed was that, 

 when thrown on the surface dry, the gut was not noticeable 

 from underneath, except in the semi-circle of light, and not 

 very noticeable then. Outside that area the fly was like 

 the broom. No part of it could be seen, except what had 

 broken the surface film and passed through it. Thus, one 

 sometimes saw the hook only — more generally part of the 

 body and the lower part of the hackle — and we could 

 conceive that, to a trout, a floating artificial May fly, 

 not too dry, passing outside the transparent circle 

 above his head, would appear at a little distance like a 

 nymph, only taking shape as a winged fly when he got 

 it within the circle of light above his head. Beyond this 

 there was the fact that to us the under-water parts were 

 duplicated by reflection. In the rainbow semi-circle of 

 light above the observer's head in the pond the whole 

 artificial May fly became not only visible, but extraordinarily 

 and brilliantly so. The wings seemed coated with a spun- 

 glass brilliance which was most attractive. It may have 

 been all in the observer's eye, because it is quite conceivable 

 that, looking up through a triangular wedge of water, one 

 may have been looking through a sort of prism, which 

 perhaps gave the rainbow effects above referred to. 



With the May fly sunk below the surface, much of the 

 brilliance was lost, and the gut became obvious at once. 

 But whether the fly was outside or within the rainbow 

 hole at the top, it was extremely difficult for the observer 

 to say that it was not on the surface, except by deduction 



