118 
Forest and Stream 
FISHING THE DEPENDABLE WET FLY 
THE TIME OF DAY AND THE BRILLIANCY OF THE SUN ARE 
TRUSTWORTHY GUIDES IN SELECTING THE PROPER LURE 
By EUGENE V. CONNETT, 3RD 
1 HAVE no intention of attempting to 
prove that wet fly fishing is more 
elegant or more effective than fish¬ 
ing with a dry fly; I should, how¬ 
ever, like to give full credit to this an¬ 
cient and very honorable method. During 
the past few years our more expert 
anglers have become more and more 
addicted to the dry fly, until in a very 
natural sort of way, it has almost be¬ 
come understood that if one really is a 
top-notch fly fisherman he uses nothing 
but a dry fly. And we find man after 
man who does not even carry a wet on 
the stream any more. Considering the 
comparative newness of dry fly fishing 
in this country, the delicacy required in 
handling the floating fly properly, and 
the great success achieved by those who 
have mastered its use, a possibly justifi¬ 
able opinion has grown up among the 
dry fly men that they are just a tiny 
bnt superior to those old-fashioned fel¬ 
lows who still use more than one fly 
and fish them wet. 
Now before uttering another word on 
the subject let me say that I use a dry 
fly at least half of the time, that several 
years ago I would use nothing but a dry 
fly, and that I considered myself just a 
bit superior at that time to the wet fly 
fisherman. So that anything which I 
may say that reflects in the least on the 
enthusiast for floating flies is directed 
against myself with just as much sever¬ 
ity as it is against any one else. Two or 
three years ago 
some one told me 
that for every ten 
expert dry fly fish¬ 
ermen there w r as 
but one expert with 
the wet fly. That 
remark set me 
thinking and 
watching; before 
the year was out 
I agreed with my 
friend, except that 
I placed the ratio 
as one to twenty. 
The average angler 
that one met on the 
stream, who was 
casting a floater, 
appeared to be 
quite proficient in 
its use; while the 
average man using a wet fly showed 
clearly that his knowledge of and ex¬ 
perience in the game was very limited. 
I almost came to the conclusion that 
adepts in the art of wet fly fishing would 
soon become extinct, and, with just that 
touch of contrariness that is found in¬ 
most of us, I started in to master the 
art. It would be foolish to say that l 
had mastered it, for no one has ever i 
mastered any branch of angling or shoot? 
/ 
ing, and probably no one ever will — 
hence the undying interest in these splen¬ 
did sports. 
COR the benefit of those who perhaps 
1 have had less opportunity than I to 
study the subject, I will jot down a 
few random remarks which may prove 
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Although it seems today that for 
every wet fly fisherman there are 
twenty who use the dry fly, there is 
a decided current of favor swing¬ 
ing back to the sunken lure, and 
many anglers who are not expert 
with the dry fly often fish it wet and 
catch their fish by the old school 
method. 
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helpful. First let me say that the new 
school of nymph fishermen, who are de¬ 
veloping a most delightful and killing 
variety of wet fly fishing, are not re¬ 
ferred to when I speak of wet fly fisher¬ 
men. Their methods are too nearly re¬ 
lated to dry fly work, in that they cast 
upstream, impart no motion to their fly, 
and frankly imitate a living insect which 
is drifting down with the current. The 
wet fly methods I am now interested in 
are those which were followed by Isaak 
Walton, Francis Francis, William Tod, 
Daniel Webster, Dr. Hetishall and sev¬ 
eral fellows you may have heard of. 
They used all the way from one to 
three and four flies on a cast. Most of 
them fished with the current, and few 
of them did much more than talk en¬ 
thusiastically about using an exact im¬ 
itation of the fly on the water. 
It has been the result of my observa¬ 
tion and experience that the pattern of 
fly which will kill trout is rather more 
regulated by the state of the weather 
and water than by the species of insects 
on the water. As it is quite impossible 
to make any positive statements regard¬ 
ing fly fishing, it is to be understood 
that there are always many exceptions 
“which prove the rule.” I have found 
that the time of day and the brilliancy 
of the sun are fairly trustworthy guides 
as to the size and color of the pattern , 
to be used. As a general proposition the 
brighter the light and the higher the 
sun in the heavens, the smaller and 
darker the fly should be. In this I am 
assuming that the water is not in flood, 
but that on the other hand it is clear 
and of average height. Early in the 
morning and late in the evening larger 
sizes should be used, or can be used. 
In the middle of the day the smaller the 
fly the better. And when the water is 
clear, especially toward midday, one fly 
is plenty—in fact much better than two. 
If the day is overcast the fly may be 
a bit larger and sport more color. As a 
dark fly I have found Greenwell’s Glory 
hard to beat; close to it come the March 
Brown and the Olive Quill. Early and 
late a somewhat larger Quill Gordon, 
or a Light Cahill are killers. After the 
sun has set the fly should become darker 
and darker, until when one is fishing in 
the dark, a Black Gnat is most visible 
against the sky to the trout. Remember 
that unless a trout 
can see the fly he 
will never rise to 
it; also remember 
that the brighter 
and quieter the 
water is, the easier 
the fish will be 
frightened; hence 
the smaller sizes at 
noon. 
When the water 
is high and cloudy 
a very light-col¬ 
ored fly such as 
the Coachman is 
the best; it should 
be about size ten. 
In the early spring 
larger sizes should 
be used all day 
long, while by 
June one will taper off to size fourteen 
and sixteen. Two flies in April and 
May are a help; in June and July a 
hindrance. For night fishing in large 
rivers size eight and more particularly 
size six are valuable. Regarding the 
propriety of night fishing: I for one 
consider it great sport in those large 
waters where the really big fish—brown 
trout of three and four pounds—are to 
be found. These monsters rarely rise 
An adept in the art of wet fly fishing 
