202 
FOREST AND 
STREAM 
- 
A Problem That Bothers All of Us 
What Are the Best Kind and Size of Flies to Use For Early Spring Fishing Under Varying Conditions? 
By Charles Zibeon Southard, Author of "Trout Fly Fishing in America.” 
PRIL is here and the Trout Fly 
Fisherman’s hour has arrived in 
many states and will shortly 
arrive in others! As anglers are 
now overhauling old flies and 
considering new ones, probably 
more so than any other article 
of their equipment, a few words 
in relation to them may prove of interest. 
What are the best kind and size of flies to use? 
There is hardly a day at this time of the year 
that tackle dealers are not asked this question 
over and over again and in most cases their an¬ 
well qualified to suggest and advise the ordinary 
angler in the selection of flies for most waters. 
And this selection, as a rule, is a very fair one 
because it is nearly always based upon the flies 
that have proved successful in past seasons. 
Almost every, angler (save the novice or be¬ 
ginner) be he young or old, has some “favorite 
flies” which he will declare will catch trout when 
all others fail and this is based upon the fact that 
at some time or other an extraordinary catch has 
been made with them; and it is not always con¬ 
fined to a single instance by any means. With 
all due respect for the “favorite flies,” their users 
any water, unless he selected almost all of the 
well known and so called successful ones. The 
reason for this is that the anglers seldom agree 
upon the same flies even for use upon the same 
waters. 
When the open season begins in the spring, the 
trout are- just beginning to move about actively 
and seek the shallow water as the days grow 
warmer. It is at such times that the eyesight of 
these trout is the poorest and least keen, owing 
to the fact that they have been for a considerable 
length of time in deep, dark water and, in most 
cases, under ice. This condition has had its ef- 
The Trout are Beginning to Move About Actively. 
swer is in the form of another question: What 
waters do you fish? 
This question is prompted because the charac¬ 
ter of the waters fished by the angler is impor¬ 
tant and has much to do with determining both 
the kind and size of fly that should be used under 
ordinary conditions. 
The dealer, who has a large clientele, is usually 
and the delightful sentiment for and memories of 
past angling days which the flies call to mind, I 
am nevertheless heretic enough to place but little 
real confidence in the theory of angler’s “favorite 
flies.” 
On the “favorite fly” theory the novice or be¬ 
ginner at fly-fishing would be hard pushed indeed 
to make any reasonably good selection of flies for 
feet upon the sight of the trout, as the eyes have 
become accustomed to a subdued light, which has 
made them slow to resume their normal vision. 
As the trout are in the water, they always see 
any fly presented to them on the surface of the 
water, or a few inches under the surface, through 
the medium of the water. The distinctness with 
which they see any fly must necessarily depend 
