FLY FISHING FOR TROUT AND GRAYLING. 279 



the breaking or bending of the hook for one that escapes by the 

 gut giving way. It is mainly with sneck-bend hooks that 

 breakages occur, and these are apt to give way either just above 

 the barb, or at the angle nearest to it. With regard to the 

 number of flies to be used on a cast — a rexata quastio amongst 

 anglers — no really general rule can be laid down. In fishing a 

 stream where the fish are large and the flies to be used small, 

 it will often be found the best policy to use one fly only and 

 that tied on a Limerick hook of the best make. Indeed, what- 

 ever the character of the stream, I prefer a hook of that class for 

 my stretcher. It swims truer, and as it carries its point in the 

 same vertical plane with the bend, seldom fails to hook your 

 fish in the lower jaw. But on the other hand, there are many 

 streams - in which a second and even a third fly will greatly 

 assist your basket. 



It is not merely that you may please the trout better by 

 offering them a choice, though this is obviously true, and 

 doubly so where the water often changes its character. The 

 motion of a dropper cleverly worked, especially over an eddy, 

 is essentially different from that of the tail fly, and imitates a 

 phase of insect life with which fish are familiar, that in which 

 the fly keeps dimpling the water in a series of short descents, 

 probably dropping an egg every time it touches the stream. 

 The nature of this motion is well recognised by the term ' bob 

 fly,' so often applied to the dropper, and the young angler will 

 do well to study it carefully till practice makes him perfect. 



If it wasna weel bobbit, we'll bob it again ! 



It is in this up-and-down play of the fly that the sneck-bend 

 hook is so valuable, seldom failing to take hold somehow, 

 somewhere. When it strikes on a bone, however good the 

 temper, it is not unlikely to give way. But if care be taken to 

 test each hook beforehand these mishaps will be very rare. If 

 you have had a dozen flies dressed to your order, and cannot 

 feel sure that the hooks have been carefully proved, tiy one or 

 two by fixing the point in a board and giving a strong pull on 



