THE basses: fres h-w ater and marine 



red and green, but the difference in success mayi 

 be apparent only in the locality fished — whether 

 west or east. But all agree in the oft-repeated rule 

 that for dark days and evenings Hght flies are 

 always taken best. 



One of the greatest advantages is having confi- 

 dence in a fly, — for it goes a long way toward 

 making it a success. A fisherman will almost in- 

 variably kill the greatest number of fish with the 

 fly he uses most. He persists so long that from 

 sheer anger a game-fish rises to his lure, ai;id, be it 

 said, the artificial fly, when playing on the water, 

 is more like the natural fly than the average ob- 

 server would imagine; the many varieties winging 

 their flight on or near the water, with wings cocked 

 or flat, have been imitated with remarkable fidel- 

 ity. The duns, drakes, spinners, beetles, ants, and 

 browns — aU insects in their natural state provid- 

 ing abundant food by night or day — being so diffi- 

 cult of capture, ingenious man provides substitutes 

 that will stay on the hook and keep their form and 

 color, in or on the water, till worn out, to be re- 

 placed by new ones. 



It is not to be inferred that the writer advises 

 against trying any new patterns that are invented; 

 experience will at once tell whether a new fly will 

 be likely to surpass those now in use, and it is quite 

 possible that the greatest fly is yet to be made by 

 some genius, — a fly that will take at aU times^ 



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