142 GOLDEN DAYS 



a big jisli feeding below the bridge. . . . He 

 broke me at once. . . . was fishing muck too 

 fine. 



Now this trout was located, and then 

 watched carefully while he fed. He was 

 a heavy fish. I knew also that my 4x, 

 though quite strong enough for the small 

 trout I had hitherto been catching, was on 

 this occasion over light. It migid not 

 hold him. There was, in fact, not the 

 slightest excuse for fine gut, as I was then 

 using a large Sedge. One minute's trouble 

 would have put matters right. That 

 minute was saved and the fish lost. There 

 is among dry-fly fishers a prevalent theory 

 — to wit, that when we fish for an old, 

 wily, and well-educated trout, we can 

 beguile him only with fine-drawn gut. 

 Undoubtedly the idea is sound if the fly 

 in use happens to be a small one. In the 

 case of a large Sedge or JMayfly, however, 

 the theory should be reversed. A fine- 

 drawn, dry cast floating on the surface is 

 much more apparent to a shy fish than a 

 wet cast of undrawn gut, which, by reason 

 of its greater weight, lies in and not on 

 the water. Moreover, a large full-hackled 



