156 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



insects coming down in single file try to place your 

 fly just below the leader of the drove. Select, as a 

 rule, the moment when the sun's direct rays are 

 obscured by a cloud. The principle enunciated by 

 Ronalds more than sixty years ago of " casting into 

 the ring of the rising fish " on a calm bright day is often 

 a successful plan to adopt. Having cast over a 

 rising fish without effect, wait until it has taken one 

 or more natural insects before making a second cast. 

 If you can see a smutting fish, watch it carefully and 

 place a perfectly dry and floating fly close to its nose 

 just as it is coming to the surface to take a natural 

 insect. It will often annex both the natural and 

 artificial. Above all play the waiting game. The 

 most patient angler who can be contented to bide his 

 time until the fish he is trying is fully on the feed 

 is the one who is most likely to succeed, while the 

 man who is impatient and casts the moment he sees 

 a rising fish without due consideration is more likely 

 to scare than to rise or kill his trout. 



On a day when there are few fish feeding and these 

 only taking at long intervals the keen angler slowly 

 making his way up the stream may well discern the 

 disturbance of the surface caused by a rise. He will 

 proceed at his best pace to the place whence he thinks 

 he can cover the trout. After waiting some minutes 

 there may be no repetition of the movement. His 

 patience is getting exhausted, and he is confronted 

 with a choice of two alternatives. One is to let out 

 what he deems to be a sufficient length of line and 



