THE DET FLY. 123 



but the action also of the natural fly must be 

 imitated. 'Let a dry fly be substituted for the 

 wet one, the line switched a few times through 

 the air to throw off its superabundant moisture, 

 a judicious cast made just above the rising fish, 

 and the fly allowed to float towards and over 

 them, and the chances are ten to one that it 

 will be seized as readily as the living insect.' 

 This is the earliest mention I know of the 

 intentional drying of the fly. 



The remarkable thing about this description 

 is its completeness. The dry fly springs to view 

 full grown : there are no tentative fumblings : 

 we are given a full and reasoned argument, as 

 good now as when it was written seventy years 

 ago. All the attributes of the dry fly are 

 present : a fish must be found taking natural 

 flies ; and the artificial must be a good imitation 

 in colour and size : it must float on the surface; 

 it must be cast lightly and float naturally. The 

 fisherman must, says, Pulman, imitate action. 

 Pulman was a well-known tackle maker at 

 Axminster. He fished much on the Axe, on the 

 eastern side of Devonshire. He wrote several 

 good fishing books. The fact that he is the first 

 to describe the floating fly is puzzling, for this 

 reason. It was practised on the Itchen, pro- 

 bably in the forties, certainly in the fifties of 

 last century. It has a continuous history on 

 that river. On the other hand, I know no other 

 reference to it on the Axe. Nor can I find any 

 mention in Pulman's books of fishing on the 



