224 THE TROUT ARE RISING 
glycerine in the water helps. With good gut, 
thoroughly well soaked, you will fish with con- 
fidence. The South African trout play lustily. 
One of the London staff of a leading firm of 
tackle manufacturers told me that the late Lord 
Hardwicke, for his salmon fishing, took the 
soaking of gut much more seriously than merely 
putting a cast in lukewarm water. He kept his 
salmon casts in his damper box, with the flannel 
pads continually wet, right through the season. 
By this means the knots were softened. 
The beginner will no doubt be worried if he 
has an adverse wind to contend against, especially 
when he is using fine gut. With a sound rod, 
» though, he can do a good deal, and anyhow he 
must do the best he can, It will help him against 
the wind if he halve the length of his cast and 
fish with just a tail fly. 
Coming to flies, most of the standard wet flies 
are likely at some time or other to be useful, but 
if for some reason or other you were limited to 
six varieties (wet) for South Africa, you could 
safely choose these : Blue dun, March brown, red 
spinner, butcher, woodcock-wing-and-hare’s-ear, 
and coachman (for evening). This selection will 
carry you a long way. 
Supposing that one had to select half-a-dozen 
specially for Natal, perhaps the blue dun should 
be omitted in favour of the blue jay, an attractive 
pattern which was very effective on the Mooi 
(Natal) in the season of 1919-1920. One would 
hardly have thought that it much resembled any 
