60 THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY 



menon in nature but has its cause, so the varying forms of 

 rise, which every angler with the fly must have observed, 

 are all dictated by the nature of things. It is conceived 

 that there are several things which naturally influence 

 the character of the rise, these being the position of the 

 trout in the water, his degree of confidence or appetite, 

 the smoothness or roughness of the surface, the pace of the 

 current, and the nature and stage of the fly-food being 

 taken. 



In the examination into these matters which follows, the 

 writer makes no claim to be authoritative or exhaustive, 

 but he hopes to awake among the keener minds an interest 

 in the questions discussed which may lead to some pro- 

 nouncement which shall be at once exhaustive and sound 

 in all its conclusions. 



The chalk streams and rivers of quiet and even flow 

 obviously afford greater facilities for observing the pheno- 

 mena of rises than do streams less clear or of more turbulent 

 habit, and it is from the chalk streams that one can most 

 easily acquire the bulk of the data which may be applied, 

 with the necessary qualifications, to the solution of similar 

 questions on other streams. The illustrations here given 

 will, therefore, in general be found to be taken, unless 

 otherwise stated, from chalk streams and chalk-stream 

 fishing, and it is not proposed to deal here with the effect 

 of rapid current on the various types of taking. 



Every chalk-stream fisherman, however much or little 

 he may have thought about the subject, will recognize 

 that there are a great many forms of rise. It is now 

 proposed to consider some of these, and to try and ascertain 

 what clue they severally give to the food the fish is taking. 



Analyzing broadly, the insect taken will be either — 

 (i) poised on the surface; (2) flush with the surface, as 

 being either spent or entangled by wetting of the wings, 



