
Taking it easy at noon time. 
but I told him to cheer up, that the 
best fishing of the day was as yet be- 
fore us, that we intended making a 
night of it. He was a mighty good 
sport and decided to stick it out, so 
came with us while we pitched our 
tent and made ready for our campaign 
on Brandy Brook. 
iN 7 P.M. we staked our skiff just 
below the “potato patch” and the 
friendly old man settled himself below 
us where he could watch us work. The 
trout were rising freely and in great 
numbers, but to my mind they were 
not feeding on any of the flies on the 
surface. Occasionally, however, I no- 
ticed a slight bulge on the surface 
which denoted a fish feeding beneath, 
on nymphae. That decided our plans 
for the evening’s fishing We would 
use wet flies. 
Stringing up our leaders with black 
gnat as hand fly, hare’s ear as drop- 
per, and MacGinty as tail fly we were 
soon ready to try our skill. Carefully 
I made my first cast, letting the flies 
alight as softly as thistledown on the 
water. Then I let them sink, at the 
same time keeping a reasonably taut 
line. My whole being was keyed up 
to the highest pitch, which was neces- 
sary to make a successful strike under 
these conditions. 
| lao peace a minute passed as I 
let the flies slowly sink in the 
placid water. Then I felt a slight 
touch. As quick as thought I struck 
and was fast to a fighting “Brandy” 
trout. Straight to the surface he 
came, the very instant the hook struck 
home and we had a pretty display of 
acrobatics, as he milled the surface of 
the water into a foam. He then took 
526 
One would scarcely call this a trout stream, yet it abounds with 
big fellows. 
it into his head to go down stream, 
but “Brandy” is not a place where one 
can let trout run where he pleases. 
NE’S rod must be of sufficient 
backbone to use drastic measures 
if necessary, or else the fish can find 
innumerable snags and weeds to twist 
the line around and thus break loose. 
In this case the trout was so lusty and 
pulled so vigorously that he loosened 
our skiff from its moorings and pard- 
ner had quite a time keeping us from 
following the trout into the channel, 
which if it had happened might have 
ruined the fishing for a time. At last 
I tired the beggar out enough to get 
the net under him and our eyes rested 
on a goodly specimen of Brandy Brook, 
a two pound native. He had taken 
the black gnat. 
jaro 8:30 pardner and I both had our 
limit, every trout having been 
hooked in the same manner as the 
first. The pattern of fly did not seem 
to make any difference, as they took in- 
discriminately each one of the flies we 
had on our cast. 
man, had not had a strike. He blamed 
it on his flies, so we gave him some 
of ours.and then watched him for a 
time. He could not seem to get on 
to the strike, which was made while 
the fly was sinking, claimed emphati- 
cally that he wasn’t getting any 
strikes, butI am positive that the trout 
were hitting his flies, without his feel- 
ing’ it. 
To feel and strike a fish on a sink- 
ing but otherwise motionless fly re- 
quires much experience and practice, 
but it is an art and should be eculti- 
vated if one intends fishing the dead 
waters of the North Woods. This 
Our friend, the old . 
trick, learned so thor- 
oughly in the Adiron- 
dacks, has served me 
Catskill streams, in 
those long quiet pools. 
It is rarely effective, 
however, until an 
hour before dark and 
from then through- 
out the night. 
HE cast should 
be made as care- 
fully as when fish- 
ing the dry fly, let- 
ting the flies alight 
very softly on ‘the 
surface. Then they 
should be allowed to 
sink of their own ac- 
cord.) If )iteaewdase 
light the line should 
be watched very care- 
fully and one can 
see the strike by an almost impercep- 
tible movement of the line. If the wa- 
ter is extremely clear the sudden gleam 
of pink in the water will often an- 
nounce the taking of the fly, and one 
cannot strike too quickly. Often one 
will imagine seeing something under 
the surface, but it is so vague that it 
is laid to the imagination. There is 
one rule to follow when this occurs. 
Rest assured that you are not having 
hallucinations and STRIKE. You will 
surprise yourself. 
2 the late evening as the shadows 
become heavy enough to obscure the 
vision, then it is necessary to culti- 
vate the sense of feelings to the nth 
power. After a few years’ experience 
one almost senses the presence of a 
trout before he strikes by a slight mo- 
tion of the line which is readily felt 
if the rod is ultra-sensitive and the 
angler himself is a part of the tool 
he is handling. 
On the night in question very few 
trout were taken outside the ones 
killed by my pardner and me. This I 
credit entirely to our knowledge of the 
sunken, motionless strike. Another 
thing that often brings home the ba- 
con in this method of fishing is to 
strike after the fly has sunk a bit, 
whether one feels a fish or not. 
Very often this will result in taking 
a trout, but it does not work nearly 
as well as the other method. 
ieee very next evening following this 
we encountered conditions entirely 
different. The trout rose freely all 
through the day, but not to the an- 
glers’ flies. No less than twenty an- 
glers tried their skill on them, to no 
avail. I spent two hours in the early 
in good stead in the — 
eeetthi ae erie 
6 pe te a a ae 
