46 MINOR TACTICS OF THE CHALK STREAM 



seen floating on a glassy piece of water. It is now 

 some years since, in the columns of the Fishing 

 Gazette, I called attention to what I described as 

 the "wet-fly oil tip" in this connection. I take 

 no credit for this invention. It belongs entirely 

 to Mr. C. A. M. Skues, the secretary of the Fly- 

 fishers' Club, and its discovery came about in 

 this way : 



We were fishing opposite banks of a German 

 trout stream, the Erlaubnitz, and the rise of 

 fly had petered out. The trout, which had been 

 hovering over their pockets in the weeds and in 

 the runs between them, had dropped out of sight, 

 and it was obvious that it would need something 

 to attract them more noticeable than the pale 

 watery duns which were the staple of the season. 

 We agreed upon Soldier Palmers tied with bright 

 scarlet seal's fur. Presently the far bank began 

 catching them, though he was fishing upstream 

 wet in rather fast water. I hailed him, and he 

 said he had paraffined his gut cast to within the 

 last two links from the fly and watched his cast. 

 I was not above a hint, and in a minute or two I 

 was experiencing the benefit of the wet-fly oil tip, 

 and we were kept busy till six o'clock brought on 

 the usual rise of Little Pale Blue of Autumn, and 

 a change to floating patterns. It also involved a 

 change of cast, for a cross-stream cast with oiled 

 gut betrays you with a vile drag. It is a dis- 

 advantage of paraffining your gut that it limits 



