84 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



one or more of the old standards, and will add them 

 to the collection in their boxes or books. Others, 

 again, will have nothing to do with the new-fangled 

 notions, and swear by the old standards to the exclu- 

 sion of any others. To all I would proffer a few 

 words of advice. If you have a preference for a par- 

 ticular pattern by all means fish it. The fly you prefer 

 is far more likely to kill than one in which you have 

 no confidence. Do not, however, let yourself be 

 blinded to the possibility of patterns being improved, 

 and when you use one which strikes your fancy as an 

 unusually good imitation of the natural insect give it 

 a fair trial before condemning it. 



Throughout this chapter it is my desire to cater for 

 all sorts and conditions and to give the best advice 

 I can to every shade of opinion. I therefore propose 

 in each case to give my readers the alternative of 

 selecting either from the set of patterns in " Modern 

 Development of the Dry-Fly " or from the one hundred 

 best patterns given in " Dry-Fly Entomology." For 

 the sake of brevity I shall designate the former the new 

 patterns, giving their numbers as before stated, and the 

 patterns from the older book will be called old standards. 



The trout-fishing season on the Test and Itchen 



opens on the ist of April, a 



Opening of the trout date which, to my mind, is a 



season. month too early for the Itchen. 



Even on the Test it is quite 

 early enough, and many of the large fish of, say, 2 lb. 

 and upwards are not in first-rate condition. The 



