April 3, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
541 
A Little Talk About the Dry Fly. 
Sullivan County, N. Y., March 27. —Editor 
Forest and Stream: Recently we have heard 
much talk of the dry fly and dry-fly fishing, and 
one would be inclined to fancy that this method 
of fly-fishing for trout was an art which had 
not been practiced to any extent in this country. 
As a matter of fact, it 
has been studied and 
utilized where the con¬ 
ditions favored that 
style of fishing by a 
great many American 
anglers. My attention 
was first seriously en¬ 
gaged soon after the 
publication of F. M. 
Halford’s fine works in 
England. The first of 
these appeared, I think, 
in 1886, but the dry fly 
had been used success¬ 
fully at least a quarter 
of a century earlier. 
In Thaddeus Norris’ 
“American Angler,.’’ 
published in Philadel¬ 
phia about i860, there 
is a description of dry- 
fly fishing on the Wil- 
lowemoc, in Sullivan 
county. The water was 
low and quiet and 
Norris could do noth¬ 
ing with the flies com¬ 
monly in use. His com¬ 
panion, however, tied 
two flies expressly for 
the occasion, and by 
using a leader of the 
finest gut he was able to 
lay them so lightly upon 
the glassy surface of 
the stream that the 
trout rose and were 
hooked before the flies 
sank or were drawn 
away. The patterns 
used were the Grannon 
and Jenny Spinner. 
Mr. Halford is a past 
master of his subject, 
but he writes more 
particularly for the 
benefit of English ang¬ 
lers whose field of ac¬ 
tion is found upon the 
placid chalk streams of 
the South of England. 
The practical lessons he 
teaches are most valu¬ 
able, but require some adaptations when applied 
to the fishing of our mountain rivers. 
The bacilli or microbe of the dry fly entered 
my system about the year 1889 or i8go and the 
attack which followed was quite severe. I im¬ 
ported an English rod, dry flies, gossamer silk¬ 
worm gut and all other prescriptions which I 
presumed were necessary to effect a cure. From 
the first I caught trout, a few of them, but my 
success was not great. My rod and line were 
unnecessarily heavy and caused me great fatigue. 
I never fished “on spec,” only for fish that were 
seen rising at natural flies. My first enthu¬ 
siasm had waned considerably, when one after¬ 
noon I had a little experience that was of ser¬ 
vice. I was fishing down stream with two flies. 
The water was not very productive, but a long 
gliding run gave promise of sport. Casting over 
this in my best style from top to bottom I was 
favored with but one faint rise. Having an 
abundance of time, I sat down to meditate upon 
“the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” 
and to watch the surface of the stream. 
Presently two trout began rising within a yard 
of each other. I removed the stretcher fly and 
taking a little box of dry flies from my pocket 
I knotted one of these to the casting line in its 
place. As I expected to resume wet-fly fishing 
immediately, I allowed the dropper, a pet fly of 
my own make, to remain where it was. Now, 
this fly happened to be tied on a fine wired hook, 
while the dry fly was busked upon an eyed hook 
of heavier make. As I waded cautiously into 
position for those trout I kept the line in the 
air by a series of false casts and this process 
dried that old dropper fly thoroughly. The con¬ 
sequence was that it floated more cockily and 
attractively than the orthodox dry fly and was 
more attractive to the fish. In turn they passed 
by the tail fly and were hooked and killed on 
the dropper. Then a 
larger trout rose higher 
up the pool and that 
one also came to the 
basket. I could make 
my own dry flies, but 
decided not to make a 
habit of using two of 
them on the same cast¬ 
ing line. 
Since that experience 
I have tied my flies to 
suit the water and the 
season and have en¬ 
joyed excellent sport 
with dry fly, but have 
never abjured the wet 
fly and never expect to 
do so on the streams I 
usually fish nowadays. 
The wet fly often kills 
best; in fact, there are 
days when one may 
make a good basket 
fishing wet, yet would 
have little or no suc¬ 
cess with the dry fly. 
It is well to under¬ 
stand both methods and 
practice the one which 
pleases Master Speckles. 
In dry-fly fishing it 
is usually advisable to 
fish up stream. There 
are exceptions, but this 
is the rule. Approach 
cautiously and get into 
position below your 
fish; or if you see no 
rise, the spot where 
you are confident a 
trout is lying in wait 
for your fly. Do not 
cast straight up, with 
the line over the trout’s 
back, but from one 
side. Try to cast at 
an imaginary mark two 
feet above the surface 
of the water. Check 
the fly gently and allow 
it to fall of its own 
weight, from six inches 
to two feet above and 
in front of the fish. As the fly floats down 
with the current, recover line with the left hand. 
This takes in the slack and allows you to keep 
the rod in the best position for striking. If 
you get no rise this surplus line is shot through 
the rings on the next cast. If you hook a large 
trout this line will be taken out, probably on 
his first rush, and he can then be played from 
the reel. If too small for this the fish may be 
brought within reach with the left hand by tak¬ 
ing in line. If a trout rises when you are cast¬ 
ing a long line it will usually be necessary to 
THE CRITICAL MOMENT. 
From a photograph by F. F. Sornberger. 
