910 
FOREST AND STREAM 
The ice is out early 
in May. 
Come early and get the 
wonderful game fishing of 
MAINE’S 
Forest Lakes 
6 and 8 pound salmon and 
trout are plenty. Lots of bigger 
ones. Fighting bass. 
10 Hours from New York 
5 Hours from Boston 
Send for free booklets, “Fish and Game in 
Maine,” and “ Maine Guides.” They tell you 
where and how to go. Address 
VACATION BUREAU 
171 Broadway, Roomio 5 , New York 
NewYork,New Haven&Hartford R.R. 
Boston & Maine R.R. Maine Central R.R* 
The Safest Canoe Buy 
You getknown value in an “Old 
Town Canoe.” It won’t leak 
or absorb water or balk, 
because it’s made sturdy 
and true in every detail. 
An “OldTown Canoe” 
will help make your 
outing a success. 
Be sure to get 
an "OldTown,” 
but first write 
for catalog giv- 
ing the whole 
Price $30 up. 4000 canoes ready. canoe Story. 
Easy to buy from dealer or factory. 
OLI> TOWN CANOE COMPANY 
094 Fourth Street, Old Town, Maine. C. S. A. 
cJcwn Ca/we 
We Want the Necessary Things and Perhaps a Few Luxuries for Good Measure. 
Hints on the Dry Fly 
There is no Mystery in the Art—Just a Little Care and Practice 
Are Essential 
By Eugene V. 
ERHAPS a few words of advice on the 
question of the tackle needed for dry 
fly trout fishing would be welcomed by 
some of the angling brotherhood who have de¬ 
cided to try this method of capturing the wiley 
“fontinalis” during the coming season. As all 
anglers know nothing is easier than to spend a 
small fortune on tackle every year whether we 
need it or not—we always need more, it seems 
—and if the angler who intends to fish the dry 
fly for the first time does not care how much 
he spends, he should not bother about reading 
articles on the subject of tackle; he need only 
go to his tackle purveyor and buy everything 
offered to him. Most of us, however, prefer to 
spend as little as possible . We want the neces¬ 
sary things with perhaps a few little luxuries 
for good measure. 
If one has a good fly rod,-—and that means a 
rod that he likes, and can handle to his own 
satisfaction,—he can fish “dry” as well as “wet” 
with it. If this rod is fairly stiffish, about g l /z 
ft. long, and weighs about 5 ounces, so much 
the better, according to the experts. My fly 
rod meets none of these requirements exactly, 
but it “suits me” and that is the most important 
item. Your regular single action fly reel with a 
capacity of about 40 yds. fills the bill as far 
as reels go. If you are buying a new reel this 
spring try one of the narrow English type with 
a core about 1 inch in diameter and a perma¬ 
nent click. To my mind, they are the ideal fly 
reel. The thick core does not ruin your line 
anywhere near as much as the ordinary thin 
spindle. These reels can be had in a dull finish 
for as low as $2.50, and mighty good reels they 
are. 
In selecting your line, you can spend freely if 
you wish, by purchasing a tapered line, but I 
know of “several trout” having been caught on 
dry flies with the regular old level line. If you 
can afford it, I should advise the tapered line, 
but if you do not wish to buy a new line your 
regular level water-proof fly casting line will 
do. There is no use in my trying to tell you 
Connett, 3rd. 
what size line to use. That is a question de¬ 
pending on your rod; some rods cast a heavy 
line and others a lighter one. The question of 
the strength of the line is relatively unimportant 
—I am taking for granted that you will buy a 
line made by a reputable house—but a heavy 
rod must have heavy line, say E, and the light 
rod a light line, F or G. While on the subject 
of lines, let me say that English deer fat and 
mutton tallow are suspiciously alike, and I 
strongly advise you to ask the butcher for a 
strip of fat from a lamb’s chest rather than 
spend your good money on the imported article. 
The fat can be boiled down and put in a small 
container. With a piece of flannel 2x6 inches 
held doubled ever in one hand,—mutton tallow 
having been applied to the cloth first, the line 
can be pulled through the fold in the flannel 
and put in good condition to float—for that is 
the object of the deer fat. This keeps any 
waterproof line in good shape and you will find 
it worth your while to administer this treat¬ 
ment to your wet fly line. Be sure to remove 
the greater part of the tallow before using, by 
wiping the line with the clean rag. 
The ideal leader for dry fishing is 714 ft. long 
and tapered from about heavy bass size to extra 
light trout size. Here again the taper is not 
essential, but I should advise the use of the 
tapered leader much more strongly than that 
of a tapered line. Do not try to save money on 
leaders, for as most other things, you only 
get what you pay for. Buy first quality leaders 
only and you will save much in the long run. 
If the last remark is true about leaders, it is 
doubly true when applied to flies. To me there 
is nothing more discouraging than to see a favor¬ 
ite fly go to pieces. As a matter of fact very 
few really cheap dry flies are offered for sale 
at present, but as this form of angling becomes 
more popular, cheap dry flies will undoubtedly 
appear. Eyed flies are infinitely preferable to 
the snelled ones unless you feel you must fore¬ 
go the pleasure of a tapered leader. In the lat¬ 
ter case, flies tied with a fine snell would per- 
