DRY-FLY AT BLAGDON 169 



rienced on that wonderful lake, and which have given 

 me a fair chance of using a dry-fly. It is a thrilling 

 experience to see really big trout cruising round and 

 round all over a calm bay of the lake and taking in 

 floating trifles with all the aplomb of a Test fish. The 

 worst of them is that they sometimes, indeed gener- 

 ally, cover a great extent of water in their patrols, and 

 it takes one some time to discover the route taken by 

 each. Once you have made sure of that you can 

 place your fly somewhere along it and wait till the 

 fish returns — he usually travels on the same line or 

 near it. If the fly is properly presented he ought to 

 take it. This process of waiting for the fish's return 

 and then covering him is often a long one, and the 

 result is that one does not cover nearly so many fish 

 in an evening as one would if they were not such 

 cruisers. I should regard a brace of fish caught 

 during an evening rise from the bank as satisfactory 

 work and two brace as very good. But I can imagine 

 that in ideal circumstances one might easily get more. 

 Once for a few thrilling minutes I found several big 

 fish cruising in such close proximity that one cast 

 would probably suffice for two or three of them. I only 

 caught one, but I missed another through my own fault. 

 Similar opportunities might recur on any evening." 



" So far wickhams, zulus, coch-y-bondhus, and sedges 

 have been the floating patterns most successful within 

 my knowledge, over and above the kinds mentioned 

 earlier, but no doubt others would serve." 



" One ought, I think, to have the water calm, or very 



