SUBAQUEOUS HAPPENINGS IN ART 23 



Arrived presently at the desired spot^ the wet 

 Rough Ohve was taken off and a dry-fly pattern 

 mounted and duly oiled, and offered to three fish 

 in succession, with the result that they all went 

 down. Then back once more to the wet-fly, and 

 thrice more ere 1.30 struck there was the faint 

 flash of grey-brown under water, the same instinc- 

 tive response, a spirited battle for life (successful 

 in one instance), and then the rise petered out and 

 not a fish was stirring. And though at 2.30 a strong 

 rise of the smaller olive came on, and lasted till 

 4.30, keeping hundreds of swallows and martins 

 busy, yet not another fish put up a neb. Perhaps 

 it was because the sun had gone in. 



There are those who wax indignant at the use 

 of the wet fly on dry-fly waters. Yet it has a 

 special fascination. The indications which tell 

 your dry-fly angler when to strike are clear and 

 unmistakable, but those which bid a wet-fly man 

 raise his rod-point and draw in the steel are fre- 

 quently so subtle, so evanescent and impalpable 

 to the senses, that, when the bending rod assures 

 him that he has divined aright, he feels an ecstasy 

 as though he had performed a miracle each time. 



