502 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 28, 1908. 
New Publications. 
Dry-Fly Fishing in Theory and Practice; 
being Volume I. of the Halford Dry-Fly 
Series. By Frederic M. Halford. London, 
Vinton & Co., Ltd. Illustrated, 364 pages. 
This is the fourth and a revised edition of 
Mr. Halford’s “Dry-Fly Fishing,’’ and one of 
the series, “Floating Flies and How to Dress 
Them,” “Making a Fishery,” and “Dry-Fly En¬ 
tomology,” which has called out so much favor¬ 
able comment in the British sportsmen’s press. 
Mr. Halford, in his customary thoroughness, 
lets no detail escape his observation and com¬ 
ment. He begins with rods and goes through 
the list of articles best adapted to the dry-fly 
angler. In common with many other English 
writers he favors some method of locking fer¬ 
rules. We Americans find it difficult to under¬ 
stand why any locking device is necessary, for 
our best friction ferrules never work loose, hence 
complicated, heavy ferrules are never given a 
thought; but admirable metal workers though 
the British manufacturers are, they put ferrules 
on their best rods which are not even equal to 
our cheapest brass ones, nickeled; and they do 
not make hard German silver ferrules, whereas 
ours are made from stock which, if filed up like 
a saw, would actually cut almost as well as steel. 
Mr. Halford’s belief that aluminum or one of 
its alloys will be the reel material of the future, 
may apply to fly reels of light weight, but as a 
part of bait-casting reels it is passing rapidly in 
America. 
Mr. Halford, in common with many other of 
his countrymen, still recommends the old-fash¬ 
ioned double knot for tying gut leaders, a knot 
that is seldom or never used here. But our 
anglers who still use snelled flies may well fol¬ 
low his advice when he says, “I can find no pos¬ 
sible advantage in the use of the old-fashioned 
hook whipped to a piece of gut.” And although 
the excellent eyed hooks are coining into more 
general use here every season, anglers can safely 
listen to Mr. Halford’s further advice when he 
says that, after carefully testing turned-up and 
turn-down eyed hooks: “I could find no dif¬ 
ference either in hooking fish or holding them 
when hooked. Both were as successful as usual, 
and failed about as often as usual.” We also 
agree with him when he recommends boxes for 
carrying eyed flies so that they will stand up 
free from the crushing that is unavoidable in 
fly-books. 
Comparing wet and dry-fly fishing, he says that 
“every Hampshire fisherman who has persistently 
studied the subject has gradually become more 
fully convinced that the best,policy to pursue is 
simply to imitate nature, and present the imita¬ 
tion in the most natural position ; namely, float¬ 
ing and cocked. 
“In Derbyshire a few years back,” he con¬ 
tinues, “every one used two, and many three, 
four or even more flies; every one fished down 
stream and fished the water. Now hosts of ang¬ 
lers have invaded the districts, the trout and 
grayling are as shy and wary as any in the coun¬ 
try, and what is the result? Day after day, and 
year after year more of the successful anglers 
in the district fish up stream with floating flies 
and over rising fish only, and it is only on an 
occasional blustering day that one of the old 
school succeeds in getting a moderate bag. 
“The same tale can be told of all parts of the 
country, where the local anglers, taught from 
childhood to fish with sunk fly, laugh at the pos¬ 
sibility of a bag being made with dry fly. As an 
eaxmple of this; many years ago in Dorchester, 
one of the best dry-fly fishermen of the day was 
seriously suspected, and even accused, of not fish¬ 
ing fair; because he succeeded in killing greac 
numbers cf the largest fish on days when the 
natives with wet-fly could do no good at all. At 
length his proceedings were quietly but thor¬ 
oughly watched by one of the local talent, with 
the result that he who went to discover a fraud 
found that he had been for years following a 
mistaken policy. He went openly to his talented 
brother angler and told him all the circum¬ 
stances, persuaded him to enroll him among his 
pupils, to teach him the art of dry-fly fishing, 
and at length became himself a votary of this 
style and a proficient in it, and ever after for¬ 
swore the wet fly, and was able in turn to teach 
and convert others to the more modern and more 
successful school of angling. 
“From north and south, from east and west, 
in later times fly-fishermen came to Winchester, 
and when there saw, learned and conquered the 
use of the floating fly, and although they could 
very likely only succeed in killing their two or 
three trout daily, yet soon preferred these com¬ 
paratively meagre results to heavy bags taken 
elsewhere with the sunk fly. They carried the 
information all over the country, until at length 
the spread of dry-fly fishing has become some¬ 
thing dreadful to contemplate, because in the 
rivers where it is practiced the fish never get 
a rest, but day after day are continually tempted 
to their destruction, or worse still, perhaps, ren¬ 
dered more wary, more shy and more suspicious.” 
Our anglers, who do not sympathize with the 
dry-fly purists, will agree with Mr. Halford when 
he says that although casting over rising fish only 
is the more sportsmanlike method in that the 
fish are not rendered wild, there is no good rea¬ 
son for refusing to try likely places. He also 
explains why the dry-fly is often the more suc¬ 
cessful one on blustery and wet days, and this 
applies as well to our rapid streams where trout 
are generally found in the rough water of the 
rifts. 
Mr. Halford points out the fact that in over¬ 
head fly-casting it is impossible and absurd to 
follow the old-time myth of waiting with the 
forward cast until the line has straightened out 
on the back cast. We have a series of large pic¬ 
tures made on the most rapid plates which show 
that the line is far from straight at the begin¬ 
ning of the forward cast. The better advice is 
to wait until the line pulls before starting the 
forward impetus. Rapid photography shows that 
the last ten or fifteen feet of line and leader are 
still rolling backward when this pulling occurs, 
and that on the starting of the forward cast, the 
line curves under in a 'wide circle, although it 
never actually straightens in the true meaning 
of the term. _ Tie also explains why it is better 
to cast up stream than down, with either dry or 
wet fly. “When throwing up stream,” he says, 
“the angler is below his fish; and the position 
of the fish being with head up stream, not only 
for the purpose of feeding, but for the mere 
mechanical process of breathing, as carried out 
by the action of the gills, the angler is in the 
most favorable position to keep himself out of 
sight. * * * When the stream flows evenly the 
artificial fly, when fished from below, sails down 
in its natural position without drag, following 
the direction of the current, and presenting itself 
to the view of the trout or grayling' in much 
the same way as the natural insect. When the 
fish has risen and taken the fly in its mouth the 
slightest raising of the hand, or better still the 
forearm, drives the barb of the hook firmly home 
in its jaw.” These and other reasons are given 
to show the wisdom of fishing up stream. 
Gluing Split-Bamboo Strips. * 
Providence, R. I., March 7.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Your excellent articles on rod¬ 
making are highly interesting as well as instruc¬ 
tive. Such teachings will add life-long happi¬ 
ness to many a coming angler. Over forty years 
of delightful experience making rods, flies and 
fly-fishing give me reason for my belief. 
If you will pardon me, I would like to make 
a simple suggestion as regards gluing split bam¬ 
boo for rods. As you know, all labor is lost and 
bitter disappointment follows if the gluing prove 
defective. After various failures in gluing bam¬ 
boo strips together, it occurred to me to devise 
some simple but sure method of gluing and the 
following glue-pot was invented. Get a piece of 
common speaking tube—such as were formerly 
used in houses to call the kitchen girl to the 
chambers or dining room. One inch in diameter 
is sufficient and 2.V2 feet long. On one end solder 
a piece of brass or copper three inches square 
for a base, and it is ready for .the thin, hot glue 
that has been freshly prepared in a sauce-pan set 
in another dish of boiling water. The glue should 
thus be well cooked—say half an hour—stirring 
frequently with a thin wood paddle. 
Enough glue should be thus prepared to about 
till the tube. Now set the thing in a teakettle of 
boiling water and the glue will keep hot—a very 
important thing for success—till you glue all 
your pieces. When through using, and while the 
glue is hot, empty the tube and rinse well in hot 
water till perfectly clean of glue, dry and hang 
bottom up for further use. 
Too much care cannot be taken to prevent 
rusting this tube—as rust and dirt will spoil glue 
—and so much depends on the gluing. 
I need not tell how to use this glue-pot, as you 
have already given directions to have the pieces 
for each joint wound spirally with coarse thread. 
It will be well to unwind a few inches at a time, 
commencing at the small end. As the piece is 
unwound, and pushed down in the glue, it will 
act like an egg-beater and consequently glue all 
surfaces. When half of a piece has been thus 
unwound and whipped in the glue, wind the 
thread back, pressing the strips together and the 
glue out; then unwind the other end to a little 
beyond where the glue reached before, thus sure¬ 
ly gluing every part; then rewind and have a 
rag handy in a dish of hot water to gently wipe 
most of the glue from the outside of the joint. 
Do not wipe too clean, for if a little glue is left 
on the thread all the better and no trouble will 
be found in taking off the winding. 
After the piece has thoroughly dried—three 
.weeks or so—straighten while warm and hang 
up with a weight at the bottom to keep it straight. 
Well, well, I have let more “line off” than I 
intended. 
(Have been sick in bed a long time but have 
not lost the ever joyous remembran-Ce of past 
hours by stream or lake.) Old Doctor, 
