140 THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY 



the fly, I had never heard the theory propounded by any 

 one of them. True that almost without exception, as I 

 myself at the time, they fished dry, but that was because 

 they believed that thus they were more likely to be 

 successful. Frequently, and perhaps more often than not, 

 that would be so; but they made the error of mistaking 

 the particular — the frequent particular, the pretty general, 

 if you will — for the universal, and I believe that, if once 

 they had been convinced that it was not always the dry 

 fly that paid best, but that on parts of most days the wet 

 fly, properly applied, was the more attractive, they were 

 open-minded enough to be ready to reconsider their practice 

 on its merits, and would still be so but for the edict that 

 the wet fly was anathema on chalk streams. Yet, though 

 I laughed, the writer was right and I was wrong. So 

 perhaps I may be forgiven if I take up a little space in 

 examining the question historically, to see just what it 

 all means, and to discover, if possible, how it came about. 



Whatever may be the present state of chalk-stream 

 opinion on the subject, there can be little doubt that, in 

 its inception, the dry fly was not adopted for any other 

 reason than that it was found to pay — that is, to kill trout 

 which would not yield to the seductions of the wet fly as 

 then practised. Francis Francis was a broad-minded 

 angler, with ample experience of wet-fly fishing, whose 

 period comprised the early days of the dry fly, and, writing 

 with a knowledge of both, he used, in his " Book of 

 Angling," these wise words: "The judicious and perfect 

 application of dry, wet, and mid-water fishing stamps the 

 finished fly fisher with the hall-mark of efficiency." What 

 was it that led chalk-stream angling opinion so far from 

 these ideals ? The words quoted by me are quoted with 

 approval by Mr. F. M. Halford in chapter xi. of " Dry- 

 Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice," headed, " Floating 



