CHAPTER II. 



The April Day. 



PHE angler, to whom the April day appeals, is a fisherman of 

 * the wet-fly. At present the sunk-fly reigns supreme, for the 

 time of the dry-fly is not yet. True, there are days during fickle 

 April, and even in moody March, when the dry-fly man may bene- 

 ficially venture to the water-side. But these times are few and 

 far between ; and even the wet-fly man's April day is occasionally 

 compressed into one short, noontide hour. However, the angler 

 who, when April's here, loves to ply his art, on rapid streams, 

 according to the canons of the wet-fly, is happy in the knowledge 

 that he enjoys many advantages over his brethren of the dry-fly. 



He has felt elation on the "rampageous" streams of the 

 " North Countrie," of Wales, of Derbyshire, and of Devonshire ; he 

 has imbibed the wholesome air of the region " betwixt ling and 

 lowland," and has been enraptured once again by the dauntless, wild 

 half-pounders what time the dry-fly man is still anticipating his 

 days on the southern chalk-streams. 



He confesses that he harbours deep sympathy for the dry-fly 

 man, although he does not envy him. He, too, has tasted and 

 approved the sweets of the world of the dry-fly a world at once 

 alluring and entrancing ! He knows that to fish the floating fly 

 effectually it is necessary to employ tact and science, and he recog- 

 nises that to fish it well is to achieve that which embodies all the 

 highest ideals of the gentle art of angling. Yet, on the whole, he 

 still retains a strong affection for the wet-fly, fished in the irre- 

 proachable upstream -style. He regards it as an almost incomparable 



