May, 1922 
FOREST AND STREAM 
205 
FISHING FROM BOTTOM TO SURFACE 
THE OBSERVING ANGLER NOTES EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE OR 
MOVEMENT OF THE WATER LIKELY TO BETRAY A FEEDING FISH 
DY LOUIS RHEAD 
W ITH tackle already prepared 
you may approach the river- 
side to calmly view the surface 
and see what species of insects 
are on the wing and make general ob- 
servations regarding the conditions of 
water you are about to fish. With a full 
day’s fishing ahead there is no need of 
rushing things even though you see fish 
are rising, for if not disturbed, they do 
so — off and on, all day long. The rising 
trout has a serious purpose ; it is getting 
food, its main object in life, and you 
first want to know just what that food is 
like in order to choose and use a fly that 
will imitate as nearly as possible the in- 
sects now floating down the current, or 
in the air constantly descending for a 
moment to touch 
the water’s surface. 
But the probability 
is you will not see 
trout rising for 
food, and your 
knowledge of trout 
habits will have to 
serve as a guide 
where to cast — and 
what fly to choose. 
Furthermore, that 
same knowledge 
will also assist as 
to the wisdom of 
fishing up or down- 
stream — at the sur- 
face with a single 
dry fly, or under- 
water with two or three wet flies, or per- 
haps nymphs. Under the right and proper 
conditions both are unquestionably equal- 
ly effective. 
In the past, anglers would begin to fish 
anywhere with three flies on the leader, 
casting ahead to every likely spot as they 
waded downstream, getting a strike or 
rise here and there, haphazard, accord- 
ing to river and weather conditions 
where certain pools or spots would yield 
a quarry — large or small — and so on 
through the day’s fishing. 
Since that time the science of fishing 
has developed certain, more sure, meth- 
ods to a point that, if the angler be prop- 
erly educated his fishing is restricted to 
principles that produce results in fish, 
and pleasure combined. His judgment is 
sound as to where’ to or not to fish. 
The more learned angler — one who has 
studied aquatic insects sufficiently to rec- 
ognize certain insects on the wing; or 
one who is familiar with the season in 
which various species are rising accord- 
ing to the temperature can at once pick 
out the exact fly with which to begin 
operations and succeed well with it. 
This knowledge, coupled with an in- 
tuitive perception of the “habits of 
trout” and a first - rate performer in 
casting the fly stamps him as a finished 
fly fisher with the hall-mark of effi- 
ciency. It is well to remember that 
conditions of water and weather have 
great influence on trout and their food; 
superabundance of heat or cold must be 
carefully considered in aquatic life, for 
the rise of insects on quiet, warm days 
is vastly greater than on chill, blustery 
days. The first half of April finds the 
river high, the water and air, even in 
sunshine is chilly ; insects are scarce and 
mostly small in size, only on the wing in 
sheltered, warm places towards the noon- 
day hours and that is the best time for 
casting flies ; the March brown, shad fly, 
cowdung and small black gnat are the 
most sure flies for that condition. They 
should first be tried singly at the surface 
if any one of the species is on the wing. 
Showing method of nymph fishing from bottom to surface. Upper rod shows the 
pump-lift gut leader, baited with three nymphs and several very small shot 
It is my invariable custom every early 
season to start in from the riverside to 
cast a small single floating shadfly to 
any sheltered runway or sunny situations 
out of the wind with invariably good 
results, if not, to alternate the flies till 
the time arrives when trout respond. 
But there are times when the tempera- 
ture makes it imperative to fish with the 
three mentioned flies tied on a leader, 
sometimes casting upstream and at other 
times down or across stream — everything 
depends upon water conditions — high or 
low, warm or cold. 
The first half of May is entirely dif- 
ferent from April, in that the air and 
water is warm, snow water is gone and 
insects are far more abundant and 
varied. Trout are then ravenous, bolder, 
much easier to capture, indeed, almost 
any of the standard patterns are effec- 
tive to get a rise, dry or wet. All 
through the month of May and most of 
June trout are feeding almost continu- 
ously night and day : then it is that the 
angler’s creel is heaviest — if the weather 
is normal, or even fairly good. During 
that period the list of flics can be ex- 
tended to over a dozen patterns and if 
they copy the natural insects exactly so 
much the better are chances of success. 
On still days with warm sun and clear 
water there is no question about the 
greater advantage in fishing a single 
floating fly at the surface, either with 
the “reverse” dry fly down stream or 
the regular dry-fly cast out and floated 
down currents, either over rising fish, or 
inducing them to rise. Under such 
weather and water conditions trout are 
alert for surface food, even though “bulg- 
ing” in midwinter after nymphs their at- 
tention might probably be attracted to 
the surface lure if copied from the nat- 
ural insect. 
I F the angler finds, upon rare occasions, 
* his floating flies ineffective, whatever 
may be the condition to make it so, the 
change to a cast of wet flies is easily 
made and a test 
will demonstrate, 
what has been re- 
peatedly proved by 
me — that certain 
conditions call for 
different methods. 
In the hands of a 
skillful operator, 
the second and 
third dropper flies 
on the wet cast — 
which may be 
termed a combina- 
tion of wet dry- 
fishing, is often 
more effective than 
the cleverest work 
of surface casting 
with a single dry-fly. Dropping a wet- 
fly just off the water and the lower fly 
lifted, then just touching the surface, can 
be made a marvelously true imitation of 
the natural insect. Such fishing can best 
be worked down with the water flow with 
the flies dapping a good distance from 
the rod tip ; indeed, many a good situa- 
tion is more easily reached and fished 
more effectually in that way, especially 
if the right flies are on the ca.st. 
It is impossible to write down just 
what you must do, it is only possible to 
say what may be done, under certain 
conditions as they occur. If conditions 
occur that the floating dry fly and under- 
water wet flies fail, we must then find 
out the reason for it. From the middle 
of June to the end of the season the 
water is low, warm and very clear, and 
the duffer quits fishing, finding it im- 
possible to get trout, e.xcept those times 
after a spate or rise of water after rain. 
But the accomplished angler can go on 
getting fish — often very large ones, right 
to the closing day by the new method of 
bottom fishing with nymphs, artificial 
minnows and creepers if placed and 
played intelligently. 
The question of great importance is — 
what are trout doing, and, why do they 
cease at times to rise to our artificial 
flies? The answer to this query has 
