,,minor ,,tactics ,,of ,,the ,,chalk ,,stream ,,agents ,,america ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company #fd #ff ,,fifth ,,avenue1 ,,new ,,york ,,australasia ,,oxford ,,university ,,press #bje ,,flinders ,,lane1 ,,melbourne ,,canada ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company ,,of ,,canada1 ,,ltd4 ,,st4 ,,martin',s ,,house1 #gj ,,bond ,,street1 ,,toronto ,,india ,,macmillan ,,company1 ,,ltd4 ,,macmillan ,,building1 ,,bombay #cji ,,bow ,,bazaar ,,street1 ,,calcutta ,illustration ,,rough ,,spring ,,iron ,,blue ,,dun4 ,,olive4 ,,no4 #jj4 ,,no4 #a4 ,,greenwell',s ,,greenwell',s ,,watery ,,dun4 ,,glory4 ,,glory4 ,,no4 #jj ,,double4 ,,no4 #j4 ,,no4 #jj ,,double4 ,,pale ,,summer ,,pale ,,summer ,,greenwell',s ,,greenwell',s ,,black ,,gnat4 ,,glory4 ,,glory4 ,,no4 #jj4 ,,no4 #a4 ,,no4 #jj ,,double4 ,,tup',s ,,tup',s ,,indispensable4 ,,indispensable4 ,,olive ,,nymph4 ,,wet4 ,,no4 #j4 ,,wet4 ,,no4 #jj ,,no4 #j4 ,,double4 ,,dotterel ,,tup',s ,,hackle4 ,,indispensable4 ,,tied ,,floater4 ,,stewartwise4 ,,no4 #j4 ,,no4 #jj4 ,,minor ,,tactics ,,of ,,the ,,chalk ,,stream ,,and ,,kindred ,,studies ,,by ,g4 ,e4 ,m4 ,,skues 7,,seaforth ,,and ,,soforth7 ,,second ,,edition ,illustration3 ,logo ,,london ,,adam ,,and ,,charles ,,black #aiad ,first published in ,march1 #aiaj ,dedicated ,,to ,,my ,,friend ,,the ,,dry-,,fly ,,purist1 ,,and ,,to ,,my ,,enemies1 ,,if ,i ,,have ,,any ,,note ,,to ,,the ,,second ,,edition ,it would ill become me if ,i allowed a ,second ,edition of 8,minor ,tactics of the ,chalk ,stream0 to go to the public without expressing to those writers who have dealt with my volume in the ,press my grateful sense of the generosity with which1 whether they were or were not in agreement with the main object of the work--the endeavour to put the wet fly in what ,i conceive to be its right place on the chalk stream--they have one and all received it4 ,in the fifty or so ,press notices1 short and long1 ,i find1 without exception1 an absence of the harsh word1 and a pervading urbane and kindly spirit which is of the true ,waltonian still4 ,such fault as has been found has in the main been that ,i have shown undue timidity in dealing with the pretensions of the dry-fly purist4 ,to that criticism ,i should like to reply that in dedicating my book to my friend the dry-fly purist ,i was using no idle word--that in asking him to make room for the wet fly beside the dry fly as a branch of the art of chalk-stream angling1 ,i knew myself to be making a claim on him which he would not willingly concede1 and ,i was determined that no harsh or provocative word of mine should give offence to any of the many good friends1 good anglers1 and good fellows who would not--at the first onset1 at any rate--find themselves able to see eye to eye with me4 ,i take leave to hope that the interval since the first publication of 8,minor ,tactics0 has brought a good few of them round to the view that1 without ousting the dry fly from pride of place as major tactics of the chalk stream1 the wet fly has its subsidiary1 but still important1 place of honour in chalk-stream fishing4 ,g4 ,e4 ,m4 ,,skues4 ,,foreword ,rising from the perusal of 8,dry-,fly ,fishing in ,theory and ,practice10 on its publication by ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford in #ahhi1 ,i think ,i was at one with most anglers of the day in feeling that the last word had been written on the art of chalk-stream fishing--so sane1 so clear1 so comprehensive1 is it2 so just and so in accord with one's own experience4 ,twenty years have gone by since then without my having had either occasion or inclination to go back at all upon this view of that1 the greatest work1 in my opinion1 which has ever seen the light on the subject of angling for trout and grayling2 and it is still1 as regards that side of the subject with which it deals1 all that ,i then believed it4 ,but one result of the triumph of the dry fly1 of which that work was the crown and consummation1 was the obliteration from the minds of men1 in much less than a generation1 of all the wet-fly lore which had served many generations of chalk-stream anglers well4 ,the effect was stunning1 hypnotic1 submerging2 and in these days1 if one excepts a few eccentrics who have been nurtured on the wet fly on other waters1 and have little experience of chalk streams1 one would find few with any notion that anything but the dry fly could be effectively used upon ,hampshire rivers1 or that the wet fly was ever used there4 ,i was for years myself under the spell1 and it is the purpose of the ensuing pages to tell1 for the benefit of the angling community1 by what processes1 by what stages1 ,i have been led into a sustained effort to recover for this generation1 and to transmute into forms suited to the modern conditions of sport on the chalk stream1 the old wet-fly art1 to be used as a supplement to1 and in no sense to supplant or rival1 the beautiful art of which ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford is the prophet4 ,how far my effort has been successful ,i must leave my readers to judge4 ,i myself feel that in making it ,i have widened my angling horizon1 and that ,i have added enormously to the interest and charm of my angling days as well as to my chances of success1 and that1 too1 by the use of no methods which the most rigid purist could rightly condemn1 but by a difficult1 delicate1 fascinating1 and entirely legitimate form of the art1 well worthy of the naturalist sportsman4 ,in the course of my too rare excursions to the river-side1 ,i have elaborated some devices1 methods of attack and handling1 which ,i have found of service1 some applicable to wet-fly1 some to dry-fly fishing1 or to both4 ,in the hope that these may be of interest or service1 ,i have included papers upon them4 ,in conclusion ,i should like to express my gratitude to the proprietors of the ,field1 for permission to reprint a number of papers contributed by me to that journal over the signature 8,seaforth and ,soforth10 which come within the scope of the work2 and to ,mr4 ,h4 ,t4 ,sheringham1 for his invaluable advice and assistance in the arrangement of these papers4 ,g4 ,e4 ,m4 ,,skues4 ,,contents ,,page ,,note ,,to ,,the ,,second ,,edition vii ,,foreword ix ,,chapter ,i4 ,,of ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,things #a ,,of ,,the ,,inquiring ,,mind #a ,,ii4 ,,subaqueous ,,happenings ,,in ,,nature #h ,,of ,,the ,,drowning ,,of ,,duns ,,and ,,other ,,insects #h ,,of ,,the ,,stages ,,in ,a ,,rise ,,of ,,duns #i ,,iii4 ,,subaqueous ,,happenings ,,in ,,art #ad ,,of ,,medicine ,,for ,,bulgers #ad ,,of ,,under-,,water ,,taking1 ,,its ,,indications1 ,,and ,,the ,,time ,,to ,,strike #ag ,,of ,,rough ,,water ,,and ,,grey-,,brown ,,shadow #bj ,,iv4 ,,supplementary ,,in ,,the ,,matter ,,of ,,flies #bd ,,of ,,wet-,,fly ,,dressings ,,for ,,chalk ,,streams #bd ,,of ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,colour ,,of ,,tying ,,silk #bi ,,of ,,the ,,imitation ,,of ,,nymphs1 ,,etc4 #cj ,v4 ,,special ,,conditions ,,and ,,wet-,,fly ,,solutions #cf ,,nerves #cf ,,of ,,the ,,trout ,,of ,,glassy ,,glides #ch ,,of ,,the ,,wet ,,fly ,,in ,,pools1 ,,bays1 ,,and ,,eddies #da ,,of ,,the ,,judicious ,,use ,,of ,,the ,,moon #dd ,,of ,,the ,,wet-,,fly ,,oil ,,tip #de ,,of ,,generalship ,,and ,,the ,,wet ,,fly #dg ,a ,,potted ,,trout1 ,,and ,,one ,,other #di ,,of ,,two ,,saturday ,,afternoons #ed ,,vi4 ,,unclassified #eg ,,of ,,hovering #eg ,,of ,,the ,,porpoise ,,roll #ei ,,vii4 ,,sundry ,,considerations #fj ,,of ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,pattern ,,to ,,position #fj ,,of ,,the ,,use ,,of ,,spinners #fc ,,of ,,general ,,feeders #fg ,,on ,,attention ,,to ,,casual ,,feeders #gj ,,of ,,the ,,frequentation ,,of ,,ditches #gc ,,of ,,the ,,negotiation ,,of ,,tailers #gf ,,of ,,the ,,fascination ,,of ,,bridges #gh ,,viii4 ,,mainly ,,tactical #ha ,,of ,,the ,,deliberate ,,drag #ha ,,in ,,the ,,glass ,,edge #hd ,,of ,,the ,,cross-,,country ,,cast #hg ,,what ,,tussocks ,,are ,,for #hi ,,of ,,the ,,alleged ,,march ,,brown #ia ,,of ,,general ,,flies #ib ,,ix4 ,,considerations ,,moral1 ,,tactical1 ,,psychological1 ,,and ,,incidental #ie ,,of ,,faith #ie ,,of ,,the ,,bank ,,of ,,vantage #ih ,,of ,,courage ,,and ,,the ,,jeopardizing ,,of ,,tuppence ,,ha',,penny #ajc ,,of ,,impossible ,,places #aje ,,of ,,the ,,use ,,of ,,the ,,landing-,,net #aji ,,of ,,the ,,weeding ,,trout #aae ,,incidentally ,,of ,,the ,,light ,,rod ,,on ,,chalk ,,streams #aag ,,and ,,of ,,wet-,,fly ,,casting #abj ,x4 ,,frankly ,,irrelevant #abb ,a ,,dry ,,fly ,,memory #abb ,,xi4 ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,wet ,,fly #abf ,,xii4 ,,apologia #aca ,,minor ,,tactics ,,of ,,the ,,chalk ,,stream1 ,,and ,,kindred ,,studies ,,chapter ,i ,,of ,,the ,,beginning ,,of ,,things ,,of ,,the ,,inquiring ,,mind4 ,i read recently in that fine novel1 8,a ,superfluous ,woman10 a sentence enunciating a principle of wide application1 to which anglers might with advantage give heed3 8,we ought not so much to name mistakes disaster as the common practice of servile imitation and faint-hearted acquiescence40 ,in no art are its practitioners more slavishly content 8jurare in verba magistri0 than in angling4 ,tradition and authority are so much1 and individual observation and experiment so little4 ,there is1 indeed1 this excuse for the novice1 that1 going back to the authorities of the past after much experiment1 he will find that they know in substance all1 or practically all1 that1 apart from the advance of mechanical conveniences and entomological science1 is known in the present day4 ,the difficulty is to dissociate the dead knowledge1 which is reading or imitation1 from the live knowledge1 which is experience4 ,and if these pages have any purpose more than another1 it is not to lay down the law or to dogmatize1 but to urge brother anglers to keep an open and observant mind1 to experiment1 and to bring to their angling1 not book knowledge1 but the result of their own observation1 trials1 and experiments--failures as well as successes4 ,in all humility is this written1 for ,i look back upon many years when it was my sole ambition to follow in the steps of the masters of chalk-stream angling1 and to do what was laid down for me--that1 and no other2 and ,i look back with some shame at the slowness to take a hint from experience which has marked my angling career4 ,it was in the year #ahib1 after some patient years of dry-fly practice1 that ,i had my first experience of the efficacy of the wet fly on the ,itchen4 ,it was a ,september day1 at once blazing and muggy4 ,black gnats were thick upon the water1 and from #i4cj a4m4 or so the trout were smutting freely4 ,in those days1 with 8,dry-,fly ,fishing in ,theory and ,practice0 at my fingers' ends1 ,i began with the prescription1 8,pink ,wickham on #jj hook10 followed it with 8,silver ,sedge on #jj hook1 ,red ,quill on #jj hook1 orange bumble1 and furnace40 ,i also tried two or three varieties of smut1 and ,i rang the changes more than once4 ,my gut was gossamer1 and1 honestly1 ,i don't think ,i made more mistakes than usual2 but three o'clock arrived1 and my creel was still 8clean10 when ,i came to a bend from which ran1 through a hatch1 a small current of water which fed a carrier4 ,against the grating which protected the hatch-hole was generally a large pile of weed1 and to-day was no exception4 ,against it lay collected a film of scum1 alive with black gnats1 and among them ,i saw a single dark olive dun lying spent4 ,i had seen no others of his kind during the day1 but ,i knotted on a ,dark ,olive ,quill on a single cipher hook1 and laid siege to a trout which was smutting steadily in the next little bay4 ,the fly was a shop-tied one1 beautiful to look at when new1 but as a floater it was no success4 ,the hackle was a hen's1 and the dye only accentuated its natural inclination to sop up water4 ,the oil tip had not yet arrived1 and so it came about that1 after the wetting it got in the first recovery1 it no sooner lit on the water on the second cast than it went under4 ,a moment later ,i became aware of a sort of crinkling little swirl in the water1 ascending from the place where ,i conceived my fly might be4 ,i was somewhat too quick in putting matters to the proof1 and when my line came back to me there was no fly4 ,i mounted another1 and assailed the next fish1 and to my delight exactly the same thing occurred1 except that this time ,i did not strike too hard4 ,the trout's belly contained a solid ball of black gnats1 and not a dun of any sort4 ,the same was the case with all the four brace more which ,i secured in the next hour or so by precisely the same methods4 ,yet each took the ,dark ,olive at once when offered under water1 while all day the trout had been steadily refusing the recognized floating lures recommended by the highest authority4 ,it was a lesson which ought to have set me thinking and experimenting1 but it didn't4 ,i put by the experience for use on the next ,september smutting day1 and ,i have never had quite such another1 so close1 so sweltering1 with such store of smuts1 and the trout taking them so steadily and so freely4 ,it was a ,september day two or three years later when ,i had another hint as pointed and definite as one could get from the hind-leg of a mule1 but ,i didn't take it4 ,there was a cross-stream wind from the west1 with a favour of north in it1 and all the duns--and there were droves of them--drifted in little fleets close hugging the east bank1 where the trout were lined up in force to deal with them1 and feeding steadily4 ,fishing from the west bank1 ,i stuck to four fish which ,i satisfied myself were good ones1 and in over two hours' fishing ,i never put them down4 ,i tried over them all my repertoire4 ,i battered them with ,dark ,olive ,quill1 ,medium ,olive ,quill1 ,gold-ribbed ,hare's ,ear1 ,red ,quill 7two varieties71 ,grey ,quill and ,blue ,quill1 ,ogden's ,fancy1 and ,wickham1 and ,i left them rising at the end with undiminished energy1 and went and sat down and had my lunch4 ,then ,i sought another fish1 and began again1 when suddenly it occurred to me that ,i had not tried the old-fashioned mole's-fur-bodied1 snipe-winged ,blue ,dun4 ,i had only a solitary specimen1 and that was tied with a hen's hackle2 but such as it was1 and greatly distrusting its floating powers1 ,i tied it on4 ,i did not err in my distrust1 for after a cast or two it was hopelessly water-logged4 ,i dried it as well as ,i could in my handkerchief1 and despatched it once more on its mission4 ,it went under almost as it lit1 just above a capital trout1 but for all that it was taken immediately4 ,the next trout1 and the next1 and the next1 took it with equal promptitude2 one was small1 and had to go back1 but the others were quite nice average fish4 ,then1 in my eagerness1 ,i was too hard on my gossamer gut when the next trout took my fly1 and he kept it4 ,i had no more of these ,blue ,duns1 and ,i did not get another fish till the evening4 ,still ,i did not realize that ,i was on the edge of an adventure1 nor yet did ,i realize whither ,i was tending when ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford told me how a well known ,yorkshire angler had been fishing with him on the ,test1 and1 by means of a wet fly admirably fished without the slightest drag1 had contrived to basket some trout on a difficult water4 ,indeed1 it was several years later that1 after fluking upon a successful experience of the wet fly on a ,german river which in general was a distinctively dry-fly stream1 ,i began to speculate seriously upon the possibility of a systematic use of the wet fly in aid of the dry fly upon chalk streams4 ,in conversation with the late ,mr4 ,godwin 7held in affectionate remembrance by many members of the ,fly-fishers' ,club1 and1 indeed1 by all who knew him71 who had seen the very beginnings of the dry fly on the ,itchen1 and remembered well and had practised the methods which preceded it1 ,i learned how1 fishing downstream with long and flexible rods 7thirteen or fourteen feet long71 and keeping the light hair reel-line off the water as much as possible1 these early fathers of the craft had drifted their wet flies over the tails of weeds1 where the trout lay in open gravel patches1 and caught baskets of which the modern dry-fly man might well be proud4 ,i gathered1 however1 that a downstream ruffle of wind was a practical necessity2 and as ,i could not pick my days1 and such as ,i could take were few and far between1 ,i realized that1 even if they appealed to me--which they did not--these methods would not do for me1 as ,i might1 and often did1 find the river glassy smooth1 but that1 if ,i were to succeed1 it must be by a wet-fly modification of the dry-fly method of upstream casting to individual fish4 ,i could not believe that the habits of the trout were so changed as to make this impossible1 and ,i began to look for opportunities to experiment4 ,the bulging trout presented the most obvious case1 yet it was rather by a chain of circumstance than by the straightforward reasoning which now seems so simple and obvious that ,i was led into experiments along this line4 ,how ,i effected some sort of solution of the problem with a variant of ,green well's ,glory1 and later on with ,tup's ,indispensable1 is detailed elsewhere1 as also are my experiments with the trout of glassy glides 7who seldom break the surface to take a winged insect1 presumably because of the drag71 together with other fumblings in the search of truth2 but from that time forth ,i have seldom neglected an opportunity to test the wet fly on chalk-stream trout4 ,it may be that on many occasions ,i have used the wet fly when the dry would have been more lucrative4 ,on the other hand1 ,i have found it furnish me with sport on occasions and in places when and where the dry fly offered no encouragement1 nor any prospect of aught but casual and fluky success1 and ,i have provided myself with a method which forms an admirable supplement to the dry fly1 and has frequently given me a good basket in apparently hopeless conditions1 and in the smoothest of water and the brightest of weather4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,subaqueous ,,happenings ,,in ,,nature ,,of ,,the ,,drowning ,,of ,,duns ,,and ,,other ,,insects4 ,it has been advanced as an argument against the use of the wet fly1 that duns and the other small insects which drift down upon the surface of a stream are never seen by the fish under water1 and that a wet fly is therefore an unnatural object1 especially if winged4 8,never0 is a big word1 and ,i venture to think the case is overstated4 ,i have watched an eddy with little swirling whirlpools in it for an hour together1 and again and again ,i have seen little groups of flies caught in one or other of the whirls1 sucked under and thrown scatterwise through the water1 to drift some distance before again reaching the surface4 ,anyone who has kept water-insects in spirit for observation or mounting is aware that they readily become water-logged1 and by no means insist on floating4 ,again1 we have it on the best authority that certain of the spinners descend to the river-bed to lay their eggs1 and probably1 that function performed1 they ascend again through the water1 giving the trout a chance while in transit4 ,thus the trout may well be familiar with winged insects under water4 ,even if he were not1 it may be doubted whether he is sufficiently intelligent to reject a thing which he fancies he has found good to eat on the surface merely because it happens to be below4 ,indeed1 experience so conclusively proves that trout will take the winged fly under water that those who repudiate both these propositions are upon the horns of a dilemma4 ,many hackled flies are more or less--and generally less--careful imitations of nymphs or larv4 ,but of these more anon4 ,,of ,,the ,,stages ,,in ,a ,,rise ,,of ,,duns4 ,it has often been the subject of admiring comment that1 before ever the angler can see a single fly in air or upon water1 the trout will have lined up under the banks1 and settled at the tails of weed-beds1 and have begun to take toll of insect life2 and many have commented on the startling unanimity with which trout begin to feed all at once all over a river or length4 ,some seem to suppose that1 with a quick appreciation of values of temperature1 atmosphere1 barometric pressure1 and what not1 the trout discern when the flies will rise1 and are there in readiness4 ,is it necessary to suppose anything far-fetched8 ,it has often seemed to me that the swallows and martins can and do detect in advance the preparations for a rise in the swarming of nymphs released from weed or gravel1 or whatever their particular fastness may be1 and borne down the current4 ,this precedes the actual hatch for a period greater or less according to temperature1 pressure1 and perhaps other little-understood conditions2 and so it happens that no trout that is not 8by ordinar'0 stupid could fail to appreciate that game is afoot1 and to put himself in position to enjoy the sport4 ,if one goes down to the bottom of the ,high in ,winchester1 near by ,king ,alfred's statue1 and peers between the railings1 one may generally see several brace of handsome trout2 and if one takes some new bread and presses it together in little balls hard enough to make it sink1 but not sink too fast1 and throws it to the trout1 one may see some most beautiful catching1 neater than that of the most finished fielder in the slips4 ,so when the nigh-upon-hatching nymphs are being hurried down1 your trout shall enjoy some pretty fielding before the bulk of the quarry come near enough to the surface to attract attention to the trout's movements by any swirl or break on the surface4 ,if the trout be lying out on the weeds from which the nymphs are issuing1 you shall see the trout swashing about in the shallow water covering the weed-beds1 in pursuit of the nymphs1 and presenting the phenomenon known as 8bulging40 ,this is the first stage of the rise4 ,presently1 as the swarm of drifting nymphs becomes more numerous1 escaping units1 first in sparse1 then in increasing numbers1 reach the surface1 burst their swathing envelopes1 and spread their canvas to the gales as subimagines4 ,presently the trout find attention to the winged fly more advantageous--as presenting more food1 or food obtained with less exertion than the nymphs--and turn themselves to it in earnest4 ,this is the second stage4 ,often it is much deferred4 ,conditions of which we know nothing keep back the hatch1 perhaps send many of the nymphs back to cover to await a more favourable opportunity another day2 so it occasionally happens that1 while the river seems mad with bulging fish1 the hatch of fly that follows or partly coincides with this orgy is insignificant4 ,but1 good1 bad1 or indifferent1 it measures the extent of the dry-fly purist's opportunity4 ,good1 bad1 or indifferent1 it presently peters out1 and at times with startling suddenness all the life and movement imparted to the surface by the rings of rising fish are gone1 and it would be easy for one who knew not the river to say3 8,there are no trout in it40 ,for all that1 there are pretty sure to be left a sprinkling1 often more than a sprinkling1 of unsatisfied fish which are willing to feed1 and can be caught if the angler knows how2 and these will hang about for a while until they1 too1 give up in despair and go home1 or seek consolation in tailing4 ,often these will take a dry fly1 but an imitation of a nymph or a broken or submerged fly is a far stronger temptation4 ,this is the third stage4 ,now1 the dry-fly purist is quite entitled to his own opinions1 and to restrict himself to the second stage2 but if there be other anglers who are willing to vary their methods1 who can and do catch their trout1 not only in the second stage1 but also in the first and the third1 and if their methods spoil no sport for others1 who shall say that they are wrong in availing themselves of all three stages of a rise of duns8 ,i remember well one day late in ,may when the three stages were excellently well marked4 ,there was a bright sun1 a light breeze from the east with a touch of south in it1 and ,i was on the water about #i4cj1 and took the left bank1 with the wind behind my hand4 ,no fish were rising1 but on reaching the water-side ,i almost stumbled on top of a trout which stood poised over a clear gravel patch under my own bank4 ,fortunately1 however1 ,i withdrew without his seeing or suspecting me4 ,my pale-dressed ,greenwell's ,glory trailed in the water1 and ,i delivered it without flick1 well wet1 a foot or so above the spot where ,i had marked my fish4 ,there was no break of the surface1 but a sort of smooth shallow hump of the water about the size of a dinner-plate1 with a dip in the middle1 as the fish turned and ,i pulled into him4 ,presently ,i saw a brace bulging vigorously over some bright green weeds4 ,it was not the first or the tenth time that my sunken ,greenwell covered the fish that one of them came2 but when he did there was no doubt about it1 and he joined number one in the basket4 ,two more followed in a short time1 unable to resist the same lure4 ,then it seemed to fail of its effect1 though the river was freely dotted with rings1 and after wasting much time ,i tumbled to the situation1 and changed to a floating ,no4 #a ,whitchurch--most effective of ,yellow ,duns--on a cipher hook4 ,the effect was immediate1 but ,i had put it off too long1 and when ,i looked up from basketing my third trout to the ,whitchurch the rise had worn out4 ,but ,i was not done yet4 ,i changed to a ,tup's ,indispensable dressed to sink1 and1 fishing upstream wet in likely runs and places1 ,i made up my five brace before ,i knocked off for lunch4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,subaqueous ,,happenings ,,in ,,art ,,of ,,medicine ,,for ,,bulgers4 ,for many a year bulging trout were the despair of my life1 and in those days ,i would gladly have said 8,amen0 to the opinion expressed in a letter to the ,fishing ,gazette of ,march #ac1 #aiji1 by the angler who writes over the pen-name of 8,ballygunge10 that when trout were bulging you 8might as well chuck your hat at them0 as a fly4 ,many times had ,i vainly plied them with ,gold-ribbed ,hare's ,ear1 as recommended by ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford1 as well as most of the current imitations of duns on the water1 and ,wickhams1 ,tags1 and other fancy flies to boot4 ,hoping against hope1 ,i never gave up trying for those aggravating fish1 and one day1 towards the end of a bad exhibition of bulging by the trout1 ,i actually caught a brace1 and lost a third1 on a ,pope's ,green ,nondescript--a dun tied with starling wing1 red hackle and whisk1 and a dark green body ribbed with broad flat gold4 ,on many occasions since ,i have found that fly kill well at the beginning of a rise1 and it may be that on the occasion spoken of the trout which ,i got were on the verge of giving up bulging in favour of the winged dun4 ,but ,i was not satisfied4 ,then the recollection of a visit to the ,tweed struck me with the notion that on that water all the trout practically bulged all the time1 and that with their wet-fly patterns ,tweed anglers were able to give a good account of themselves1 and ,i searched among ,tweed patterns for the nearest analogue to ,pope's ,green ,nondescript4 ,i thought ,i found it in ,greenwell's ,glory1 if varied by exchanging for the hen blackbird wing a starling wing4 ,the likeness was not very exact1 but it was close enough to experiment on4 ,the point that ,i wanted to achieve was to combine with the colours of ,pope's ,green ,nondescript the type of dressing special to the ,tweed ,greenwell's ,glory4 ,rough1 slim upright wings1 well split1 and standing well apart when wet1 made of several thicknesses of feather so as to absorb water1 and not to give it up readily when cast2 body spare1 consisting of the waxed primrose tying silk only1 closely ribbed with fine gold wire1 and one or at most two turns of a furnace hen's hackle with ginger points1 no whisk 7whisks only help flotation71 and a rather rank hook to take the fly under4 ,the type of dressing is to be found applied to all his patterns in ,webster's 8,angler and the ,loop ,rod40 ,whether it was because ,i had faith in my medicine1 or whether any other cause was at work1 ,i know not1 but the experiment was1 despite some misses due to failure to judge the right moment to pull home the hook1 an immediate success4 ,bulging trout are bold feeders1 and seem to mind being cast over less than do those which are taking surface food2 but they are much more difficult to cover accurately1 because they rush from side to side and up and down1 and the odds are that1 if you cast to one spot1 the trout is careering off in pursuit of a nymph to right or left of it4 ,but once the trout sees the fly1 the chances of his taking it are far better than are the chances that a surface-feeding trout will take the floating dun which covers him4 ,the fly is allowed to drag in the stream1 so as to be thoroughly wet1 and is then cast upstream to the feeding fish in all respects like a floating fly1 except that it is not dried or allowed to float4 ,the weight of the reel-line will probably be enough to dry the gut1 so that the risk of lining your trout is minimized1 only the fly and the first link or so of gut going under before it reaches him4 ,i found it best to tie this pattern on gut1 and1 dressed as described1 it has been worth many a good bulger to me1 apart from its value for general purposes4 ,later on the value of ,tup's ,indispensable fished wet impressed me much1 and its resemblance to a nymph induced me to give it a trial upon bulging trout4 ,for wet-fly purposes this is as near the dressing as ,i am at liberty to give3 ,primrose tying silk lapped down the hook from head to tail1 a pale blue or creamy whisk of hen's feather as soft as possible and not long1 three or four turns of coarser untwisted primrose sewing silk at the tail1 body rather fat1 of a mixed dubbing of a creamy pink 7invented by ,mr4 ,r4 ,s4 ,austin1 the well known angler and fly-dresser of ,tiverton71 and a soft blue dun hackle1 very short in the fibre1 at the head1 the dressing being preferably finished at the shoulder behind the hackle4 ,when this fly is thoroughly soaked it has a wonderfully soft and translucent1 insect-like effect4 ,it proved even more successful than ,greenwell's ,glory1 and with one or other ,i am almost always able to give a good account of bulgers instead of coming empty away4 ,,of ,,under-,,water ,,taking1 ,,its ,,indications1 ,,and ,,the ,,time ,,to ,,strike4 ,friends with whom ,i have discussed the use of the upstream wet fly on chalk streams have frequently said to me3 8,but how are you to know when the trout takes1 and when to strike80 ,it is a very pertinent question1 and the answer is not to be given in a word4 ,often the indications which bid you pull home the hook are so subtle and inconspicuous that the angler is at a loss to account for the miracle which is evidenced by his hooped rod and protesting reel1 but even in the roughest water something helps the angler to divine the moment for action4 ,in a subsequent section1 under the heading 8,the ,grey-,brown ,shadow10 will be found an account of a day's sport with the wet fly in an upstream wind so rough as to throw the river into waves4 ,the flash of the fish as it turns to take the fly may often be seen1 so dimly and so momentarily as to be apt to escape notice if one does not know what to look for2 but ,i have on several occasions even divined it through water which reflected a bright white glare1 and seemed opaque to the eye4 ,if on these occasions a hooked trout had not proved the truth of my observation1 ,i could not have sworn to having certainly seen anything move2 but there through the surface1 which looked at the angle of view impenetrable to the eye1 ,i did seem to glimpse a faint pink flash that corresponded to no movement on the surface1 and there was the fish soundly hooked1 and no fluke about it4 ,often under an opposite bank1 when the light will not permit you to see your gut or fly1 you will see a trout suddenly ascending to near the top of the water1 and as suddenly sinking2 then1 if you tighten1 ten to one your hook is firmly in his jaws1 and you see him shaking his head savagely at the unexpected restraint upon his liberty ere he makes his first rush4 ,when fish are bulging1 the moment of taking the fly is generally marked by a swirl1 and the angler should strike immediately4 ,fortunately1 a wet-fly strike1 even if misconceived or mistimed1 is far less likely1 so long as the fish is clean missed and not lined1 to alarm him than is a strike with the dry fly1 because the wet fly comes out through the water at a point far below the fish instead of being drawn along the surface4 ,in glassy glides1 which are always fast water1 one either sees the fish turn to the fly1 or1 if the light prevents it1 one sees a little crinkle1 or break1 work up through the water to the surface1 which warns the angler to strike4 ,often the gut lying on the surface goes under as the fish draws in the fly1 and alike in daylight and moonlight it acts as a float2 and even if the fly be taken too deep below water for any other indication to be in time1 it will warn the angler to attend to business4 ,an ingenious angler1 as elsewhere explained1 has conceived and utilized successfully the idea of oiling his gut cast for fishing wet directly upstream in rapid water1 and an excellent device it is for its occasion4 ,but perhaps the commonest indication of an under-water taking in water of slow or moderate pace is an almost imperceptible shallow humping of the water over the trout4 ,it is caused by the turn of the fish as he takes the fly1 and when the angler sees it it is time to fasten4 ,if he waits until the swirl has reached and broken the surface 7and it may not be violent enough to do so71 he may be too late4 ,if the fly drops directly over the fish1 that shallow hump seems often almost simultaneous with the lighting of the fly2 but if the cast be wide1 your trout will not infrequently dart a yard or more to a wet fly--when for a dry fly he would do no such thing--and then the angler has a warning of the coming of the shallow hump on the surface which tells him that the iron is hot4 ,it may be questioned1 however1 whether it is not more difficult to time correctly the strike for which one has had such warning than one which comes without warning4 ,in my experience1 the trout which takes under-water is generally very soundly hooked4 ,a trout taking floaters on the surface frequently sips them in through a narrowly-opened slit of mouth1 but an under-water feeder draws in the fly by an extension of the gills which carries it in with a full gulp of water4 ,in the effort to divine the indications which call for striking with the wet fly ,i confess ,i find a subtle fascination and charm1 and1 when success attends me1 a satisfaction beside which the successful hooking of a fish which rises to my floating fly seems second-rate in its sameness and comparative obviousness and monotony of achievement4 ,,of ,,rough ,,water ,,and ,,grey-,,brown ,,shadow4 ,it was blowing up freshly from the south-west as the train ran into ,winchester one ,april a year or two back1 and ere the water-meadows were reached the distinct bite in the wind had given ample warning that1 maugre the crisp yellow sunshine1 #aa4cj clanging from the cathedral spires left ample time to get down to the water-side and put rod and tackle together before the big dark olives or the smaller and rather lighter olives1 which warn one to put up a ,gold-ribbed ,hare's ,ear1 put in an appearance4 ,april was three parts through1 yet the backwardness of the season made conditions correspond more nearly to three weeks earlier in the normal year4 ,soon everything was in readiness1 and a couple of dark ,rough ,olives1 tied on gut1 with dark starling wing1 heron herl body dyed in onion dye and ribbed with fine gold wire1 and hackle and whisk of ginger1 lightly dyed olive1 were put into the damper to soak1 on the chance that the wet fly might pay better than the dry4 ,noon and the quarter-past chimed from the belfry1 and then a big dark olive drifted on to an eddy near by1 and1 lifted out on the meshes of a landing-net1 was identified4 ,the hint was enough4 ,one of the flies in soak--tied on ,no4 #a hooks--was knotted on1 and the surface was scanned for the first dimple4 ,presently it was located--such a tiny1 infinitesimal1 dacelike dimple1 hinting rather than proving the movement of a trout4 ,it was hardly noticeable in the turmoil made by the strong ruffle of the upstream wind against the somewhat full current of the stream4 ,it was rather far across for accurate casting in such a wind1 and presently a sudden gust slammed the line down upon the spot with such a splash as no self-respecting trout could be expected to endure4 ,a movement upstream was prescribed by the conditions1 and presently another dimple like the last was spotted in a more favourable position4 ,it was repeated after an interval1 but no fly was to be seen on the surface2 so1 without an attempt at drying1 the ,rough ,olive was despatched on his mission1 and lit a foot or so above the spot4 ,again1 and once more1 it did so1 and then there was a hint of a grey-brown flicker in the hollow of a wave4 ,by instinct rather than reason the hand went up1 and the arch of the rod showed that the steel had gone home4 ,in due course the trout--a fish of fourteen inches--was landed1 and the angler proceeded upward4 ,he soon found1 however1 that to reach and cover the trout satisfactorily it behoved him to cross1 and tackle them from the other side1 and he made his way to the footbridge4 ,on the way down1 on the main stream he saw another hint of a rise in midstream1 where the waves were highest4 ,the wind served him well1 and the fly was over the trout in no time4 ,for four or five casts there was no response2 then again that grey-brown shadow for a moment in the trough of a wave1 mounting rod1 a screaming reel1 and a vigorous trout was battling for his life4 ,arrived presently at the desired spot1 the wet ,rough ,olive was taken off and a dry-fly pattern mounted and duly oiled1 and offered to three fish in succession1 with the result that they all went down4 ,then back once more to the wet-fly1 and thrice more ere #a4cj struck there was the faint flash of grey-brown under water1 the same instinctive response1 a spirited battle for life 7successful in one instance71 and then the rise petered out and not a fish was stirring4 ,and though at #b4cj a strong rise of the smaller olive came on1 and lasted till #d4cj1 keeping hundreds of swallows and martins busy1 yet not another fish put up a neb4 ,perhaps it was because the sun had gone in4 ,there are those who wax indignant at the use of the wet fly on dry-fly waters4 ,yet it has a special fascination4 ,the indications which tell your dry-fly angler when to strike are clear and unmistakable1 but those which bid a wet-fly man raise his rod-point and draw in the steel are frequently so subtle1 so evanescent and impalpable to the senses1 that1 when the bending rod assures him that he has divined aright1 he feels an ecstasy as though he had performed a miracle each time4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,supplementary ,,in ,,the ,,matter ,,of ,,flies ,,of ,,wet-,,fly ,,dressings ,,for ,,chalk ,,streams4 ,assuming that we have made up our minds to test the wet fly upon chalk streams1 it must be taken as an axiom that the ordinary patterns of the dry fly will not do4 ,they are built to dry and to float4 ,the patterns required must be built to soak and to sink4 ,therefore bodies and hackles which throw the water must be rejected in favour of bodies and hackles which take up the water or readily enter it4 ,so dubbed bodies in place of quills1 hen hackles in place of cock's1 and of these a minimum of turns in place of a maximum2 and if whisks are used1 they1 too1 must be soft and soppy4 ,for the same reason1 wing material1 if employed1 should be so arranged as to take up the maximum of water1 and to let it go as unwillingly as possible4 ,furthermore1 the bulk of material in proportion to the hook metal must be reduced as far as possible4 ,given these requirements1 let us look around1 as ,i did1 among all the various systems of wet-fly dressing in use1 from ,john o' ,groat's to ,land's ,end1 and see what features we ought to borrow from them4 ,if we make up our minds1 as ,i think we shall1 that it is desirable to expose the body of our fly freely1 we shall not adopt any system which lays the wings low over the back of the fly1 that type being designed to secure what is called 8a good entry0 for a dragging fly1 and we have nothing to do with dragging flies or any form of river raking or dredging1 or with any flies which1 like the ,devonshire types1 carry superabundance of bright cock's hackles4 ,so we are limited to the systems which dress their flies with upright wings1 like the ,tweed and ,clyde types1 and to the soft hackled ,yorkshire style4 ,the conditions1 however1 of our waters confine us to tiny patterns--,nos4 #j and #jj hooks in the vast majority of cases1 and occasionally ,no4 #a--;and the supply of tiny soft absorbent hackles from birds other than poultry1 sufficiently small to leave the body well exposed1 is hardly to be had4 ,so1 taking one consideration with another1 it would seem that the ,tweed and ,clyde patterns1 being used on a broad and in many places equablyflowing river1 will have advantages enough to invite a trial4 ,now1 what are the features of the ,tweed and ,clyde patterns8 ,first there is the spare body1 dressed with tying silk only1 with or without wire ribbing1 or lightly dubbed with soft fur1 making an absorbent dubbing2 then a small and lightly-dressed soft hackle1 two turns at the outside1 close up behind a pair of wings tied in a bunch1 and either left single or1 preferably for our purposes1 split in equal portions1 and divided with the figure-of-eight application of the tying silk behind the wings and in front of the head1 the whole tied on a rank1 and not too light1 round-bend hook4 ,it will be suggested that the trout does not see the winged dun under water4 ,that is approximately1 though not quite absolutely1 true2 but for all that1 being in some respects rather a stupid person1 if size and colour are right1 he will not make much bones of the position of the fly with reference to the surface being incorrect4 ,it might be supposed1 again1 that a hackled pattern would better suggest the nymph stage than a winged pattern4 ,this may be true1 but the theory has yet to be worked out in much detail before one can dogmatize about it4 ,elsewhere my preliminary efforts in this direction are described4 ,here ,i could say that the wings built up of a length of feather rolled into a bunch have the advantage of taking up a lot of water1 and not releasing it readily2 and they also assist to let the fly down more lightly on the water than so lightly dressed a fly would fall but for the wings4 ,to let a hackled fly down as lightly1 one would need a lighter wire and a larger hackle4 ,the wings also help the fly to swim correctly in the water1 with the weight of the straight1 unsnecked1 round-bend hook as the counterpoise to the parachute action of the wings4 ,my own belief is that wet flies tied on gut swim better and hook better than those tied on eyed hooks4 ,as the drying action of casting is reduced to a minimum1 they are not so ready to go at the neck as when used as dry flies2 but if the angler prefers it1 there is no reason why he should not use eyed hooks1 though snecked bends of any kind and upturned eyes are deprecated4 ,down-eyed hooks1 round1 unsnecked1 square-bend1 and ,limerick1 in the order named1 are recommended4 ,when immediate sinking in rather fast water is required1 additional weight can be got by tying on a second hook1 and making the fly what is technically known as a 8double40 ,these are more easily tied on gut than on eyed hooks1 though there is a maker who supplies eyed hooks for doubles in sizes ,nos4 #a1 #j1 and #jj1 one packet containing the eyed hook1 and the other the shorter-shanked companion hook to be lashed on4 ,in either case the hooks have to be separated with the thumb-nail1 so as to stand at an angle of #de to #fj degrees before using4 ,lest it should be suggested that these double hooks1 fished wet1 lend themselves to a form of snatching1 let me say that ,i can only recall a single instance of a trout being hooked on a wet double otherwise than fairly in the mouth1 and in the course of my experiments ,i have given them an extensive trial4 ,the range of wet-fly patterns required is not extensive4 ,i have found the following serve all practical purposes3 #a4 ,,rough ,,olive4 ,wings3 ,darkest starling4 ,body3 ,heron herl from wing feather dyed brown-olive1 and ribbed with fine gold wire4 ,legs3 ,dirty brown-olive hen hackle1 with dark centre and yellowish-brown points4 ,hook3 ,no4 #a4 #b4 ,,greenwell',s ,,glory4 ,wings3 ,hen blackbird1 dark starling1 medium starling1 or light starling 7lighter as season advances74 ,body3 ,primrose or yellow tying silk1 more or less waxed 7lighter as season advances71 ribbed with fine gold wire4 ,legs3 ,dark furnace hen hackle 7black centre1 with cinnamon points7 to medium honey dun 7lighter as season advances74 ,hook3 ,no4 #a1 #j1 or #jj4 #c4 ,,blue ,,dun4 ,wings3 ,snipe4 ,body3 ,water-rat on primrose or yellow tying silk4 ,vary body by dressing with undyed heron's herl from the wing1 and ribbing with fine gold or silver wire4 ,legs3 ,medium blue hen4 ,hook3 ,no4 #a or #j4 #d4 ,,iron ,,blue4 ,wings3 ,tomtit's tail4 ,body3 ,mole's fur on claret tying silk4 ,legs3 ,honey-dun hen with red points4 ,hook3 ,no4 #j or #jj4 #e4 ,,watery ,,dun4 ,wings3 ,palest starling4 ,body3 ,hare's poll or buff opossum on primrose tying silk4 ,legs3 ,ginger hen's hackle4 ,hook3 ,no4 #jj4 #f4 ,,hare',s ,,ear4 ,wings3 ,dark or ,medium starling4 ,body3 ,hare's fur from lobe at root of ear2 rib1 narrowest gold tinsel or fine gold wire4 ,legs3 ,a few fibres picked out or placed between the strands of the silk and spun4 ,hook3 ,no4 #a or #j4 #g4 ,,black ,,gnat4 ,wings3 ,palest snipe rolled and reversed4 ,body3 ,black tying silk with two turns of black ostrich herl or knob of black silk at shoulder4 ,legs3 ,black hen or cock starling's crest1 two turns at most4 ,hook3 ,no4 #jj4 ,it will be observed that hooks a size larger than those employed for floaters can often be used4 ,the very short range of hackled patterns is dealt with later4 ,,of ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,the ,,colour ,,of ,,tying ,,silk ,,in ,,dubbed ,,flies4 ,years ago ,i spent a week upon the ,teme1 fishing wet1 and ,i remember looking down one sunny morning upon my cast in shallow water1 and being struck by the appearance of my ,yellow ,dun4 ,the body was dubbed with primrose wool1 but though1 while dry or in the air1 every turn of the tying silk was completely hidden1 yet1 looking down upon the fly in the water1 ,i could see every turn distinctly1 and the dubbing was scarcely noticeable1 and ,i was glad that the tying silk harmonized so perfectly with the hue of the dubbing4 ,the importance of the base colour of the tying silk was still more strongly brought home to me a day or two later4 ,i had tied some imitations of a pale watery dun which was on the water with a pale starling wing1 light ginger hackle and whisk1 and a mixture of opossum and hare's poll for dubbing2 but some ,i had tied with pale orange silk1 and some with that rich maroon colour called ,red ,ant in ,mr4 ,aldam's series of silks4 ,the grayling took those tied with pale orange freely1 but would not look at those tied with ,red ,ant4 ,it maybe of less consequence for floating flies1 but for wet flies ,i have since always been careful to have the tying silk either harmonious with the colour of the natural subimago1 or corresponding to the colour of the spinner4 ,for instance1 for an ,iron ,blue ,dun ,i should use claret silk dubbed with mole's fur or water-rat2 for the old-fashioned mole's fur ,blue ,dun1 primrose to heighten the olive effect in the dark blue2 primrose silk also for a ,hare's ,ear2 in the ,willow-,fly1 orange silk under the mole's fur or water-rat2 in the ,grannom1 green very darkly waxed1 or black2 and so on4 ,the fact is that the transparency of fur and feather is marvellous4 ,a starling's wing looks much denser than a dun's1 but place it over print1 and you can read every word through2 and fur is practically as transparent when wet4 ,,of ,,the ,,imitation ,,of ,,nymphs1 ,,caddis1 ,,alder ,,larv1 ,,and ,,shrimps4 ,for some time after my introduction to ,tup's ,indispensable ,i used it only as a dry fly1 but one ,july ,i put it over a fish without avail1 and cast it a second time without drying it4 ,it was dressed with a soft hackle1 and at once went under1 and the trout turned at it and missed4 ,again ,i cast1 and again the trout missed1 to fasten soundly at the next offer4 ,it was a discovery for me1 and ,i tried the pattern wet over a number of fish on the same shallow1 with most satisfactory results4 ,i thus satisfied myself that ,tup's ,indispensable could be used as a wet fly2 and1 indeed1 when soaked its colours merge and blend so beautifully that it is hardly singular2 and it was a remarkable imitation of a nymph ,i got from a trout's mouth4 ,the next step was to try it on bulging fish1 and to my great delight ,i found it even more attractive than ,greenwell's ,glory4 ,it was the foundation of a small range of nymph patterns1 but for under-water feeders1 whether bulging or otherwise1 ,i seldom need anything but ,tup's ,indispensable1 dressed with a very short1 soft henny hackle in place of the bright honey or rusty dun used for the floating pattern4 ,the next ,i tried was a ,blue-winged ,olive4 ,there was a hatch of this pernicious insect one afternoon4 ,the floating pattern is always a failure with me1 and in anticipation ,i had tied some nymphs of appropriate colour of body1 and hackled with a single turn of the tiniest blue hackle of the merlin4 ,it enabled me to get two or three excellent trout which were taking blue-winged olive nymphs greedily under the opposite bank1 and which1 or rather the first of which1 like their predecessors1 had refused to respond to a floating imitation4 ,the body was a mixture of medium olive seal's fur and bear's hair close to the skin1 tied with primrose silk1 the whisk being short and soft1 from the spade-shaped feather found on the shoulder of a blue dun cock4 ,another pattern1 successful in the last two months of the season1 is dressed with a very short palish-blue dun or honey dun hen's hackle1 a body of hare's poll tied on pale primrose silk1 with or without a small gold tag and palest ginger whisks4 ,but it is evident that on this subject ,i am only at the beginning of inquiry4 ,of course there is nothing very new in the idea of imitating nymphs4 ,the half stone is just a nymph generally ruined by over-hackling4 ,in ,july1 #aijh1 ,i caught an ,itchen fish one afternoon1 and on examining his mouth ,i found a dark olive nymph4 ,my fly-dressing materials were with me1 and ,i found ,i had a seal's fur which1 with a small admixture of bear's hair1 dark brown and woolly1 from close to the skin1 enabled me to reproduce exactly the colours of the natural insect4 ,i dressed the imitation with short1 soft1 dark blue whisks1 body of the mixed dubbing tied with well-waxed bright yellow silk1 and bunched at the shoulder to suggest wing-cases1 the lower part of the body being ribbed with fine gold wire4 ,two turns of a very short1 dark rusty dun hackle completed the imitation1 much to my satisfaction4 ,apparently it was no less agreeable to the trout1 for1 beginning to fish next morning at ten o'clock1 ,i found six fish rising on a shallow4 ,i began with a small ,red ,sedge1 as no dun was yet on the water1 and missed several of them4 ,then1 putting up ,pope's ,green ,nondescript1 ,i again missed three fish in succession4 ,i then bethought myself of my nymph1 and1 knotting it on1 in a few minutes ,i had five of the six fish1 and had lost the other4 ,i then found a trout feeding in a run1 evidently under water4 ,i made a miscast at him1 and he came a yard across to take the nymph1 but did not take a good hold1 for ,i lost him1 only to secure a better fish a few moments later4 ,it then came on to blow and pelt with rain in such sort as to render it no sort of pleasure to continue fishing1 and ,i knocked off at eleven o'clock1 with three brace as the result of an hour's fishing4 ,i have made me a shallow spoon-shaped net of butterfly-net material to attach to the ring of my landing-net4 ,it has the advantage of taking anything which comes down the stream1 whether on or under the surface1 and its practical use demonstrates itself in more ways than one4 ,for instance1 in ,september1 #aiji1 ,i went down to the river about #i4cj1 and1 having put my rod together1 sank my net in the water1 and watched for what came down4 ,there were a number of tiny diptera1 but no trace of dun or nymph4 ,i therefore concluded that it would be some time before the trout would be lined up under the banks1 and that ,i could safely go away for an hour1 and try certain carriers where the feeding of fish is not dependent on the rise4 ,i did this1 and put in over an hour's exciting1 if not very remunerative1 sport before returning to the main river4 ,the rise came on about #aa4cj4 ,but for my net ,i might have wasted all the time on the bank1 instead of conducting a siege of three very handsome trout1 and bringing up two of them4 ,on occasion ,i have found a ,dotterel dun tied with yellow tying silk on a ,no4 #jj hook1 and hackled with the tiniest dotterel hackle1 after the manner of ,stewart 7i4e41 not hackled all at the head1 but palmer-wise for halfway down the short body71 quite remunerative fished wet4 ,this1 ,i imagine1 is taken for a dun emerging4 ,but it is not only duns whose nymphal stages may be imitated4 ,i borrowed a tube containing some nearly full-grown larv of the alder1 and though ,i am given to understand that in this stage the alder passes the greater part of its existence in the black mud formed by decaying vegetation1 ,i made a sort of imitation of them which rather pleased me1 and ,i tried it in ,germany in mid-,may4 ,whether the trout are or are not familiar with the natural insect in this stage ,i cannot say1 but they took the imitation with such avidity that ,i speedily wore out my three specimens4 ,they were only made as an experiment1 and ,i tried no more1 as ,i felt qualms in my mind as to whether it was quite the game to imitate this insect in this stage1 any more than it would be to fish an imitation of the caddis4 ,i am therefore not giving my recipe4 ,nor do ,i give that for making a caddis or gentle which ,i once tried1 with mad success for a few minutes1 and gave up1 conscience-stricken4 ,i have since seen alder larv in a glass tank in the ,insect ,house at the ,zoological ,gardens1 and1 though their conditions are there no doubt quite artificial1 they were swimming so freely and seemed so much at home in the water that ,i think it more than probable that they venture into the open often enough to be familiar to the trout4 ,the long pale trailing processes along their sides suggested to me whether there was not to be found in the alder larv the prototype of the bumble4 ,i was at one time greatly interested in an attempt to imitate the fresh-water shrimp1 and ,i tied a variety of patterns1 including several with backs of quill of some small bird dyed greenish-olive1 and ribbed firmly while wet and impressionable with silk or gold wire2 but somehow ,i never used or attempted to use any one of them4 ,i1 however1 gave one to an acquaintance1 and he tied it on1 and1 standing on a footbridge1 cast it downstream over some trout which were reputed uncatchably shy4 ,at the first cast a big fish rushed at the shrimp1 slashed it1 and went off leaving the one-time owner lamenting4 ,,chapter ,v ,,special ,,conditions ,,and ,,wet-,,fly ,,solutions ,,nerves4 ,years ago1 long ere the spirit of revolt was in me1 when ,i followed as closely as ,i knew how the maxims of the apostles of the dry fly1 and knew no other method for chalk streams1 ,i suffered many blank days and much depression from a state of weather and light which must be familiar to all chalk-stream anglers--the more particularly because the 8d----d good-natured0 and sympathetic friend who knows nothing of the subject picks it out to say knowingly3 8,what a beautiful day for fishing60 ,it is clouded1 dull1 leaden1 overhung1 and the reflected light on the water is a dead milk-and-watery white2 while1 looking down into its depths1 one sees everything with a deadly and crystalline clearness4 ,there is no hint of thunder about1 but on such days the trout are all nerves4 ,never are they so difficult to approach1 never are they so ready to dart off with that torpedo wave4 ,and if one finds a rising fish1 and puts a dry fly over him1 even if he bolts not1 he rises no more4 ,but at length there came a day when my first timid experiments in the fishing of chalk streams with the wet fly had proved encouraging enough to lead to my having a small stock of wet-fly patterns for chalk-stream fishing4 ,it was a bad sample of those days when the nerves of trout seemed all on the jump1 and ,i had fished from #aj a4m4 to #c p4m4 without so much as a rise4 ,it was not that the fish were not rising4 ,on the contrary1 they rose very well--not very much1 perhaps1 but the best days are often those when the rise is moderate4 ,but this day every fish ,i cast to went down at once1 and too often ,i saw that detestable torpedo wave1 sometimes at the approach1 and more frequently at the first cast4 ,soon after three ,i tied on a ,tup's ,indispensable dressed on gut1 and crawled carefully to within a long cast of a trout which rose at infrequent intervals in a narrow side-stream under the opposite side4 ,my line trailed on the water as ,i approached1 and ,i made the minimum of effort to dry the fly ere ,i delivered it1 so as to attract as little attention as possible to my movements4 ,so it came about that the fly1 when it lit a yard or more to the left of and above the trout--it was a bad cast as regards direction--went immediately under4 ,for the nth time that day ,i saw that torpedo wave as the fish darted through the shallow water4 ,i rose with a sigh1 but as ,i did so my rod was a hoop1 and the reel screeched2 for the trout's dart had been at the fly1 not from it1 and it had gone a full yard or more to fetch it4 ,he was just short of one and three-quarter pounds4 ,before four o'clock ,i had another brace by the same method4 ,they were not easy1 and ,i did not get every fish ,i tried1 or even many2 but ,i got some where with the dry fly ,i should assuredly have gone on getting none1 and the trout stood to be cast to in a way they would not that day to the dry fly4 ,it is true enough that there are days and times when the dry fly will beat the wet fly hollow1 but there are days when the converse is the case1 and from subsequent experience ,i can recommend the trial of the wet fly on those dull1 nervy days of milk-and-watery glare4 ,,of ,,the ,,trout ,,of ,,glassy ,,glides4 ,there are places on most rivers where the water comes swiftly and in solid volume down a slope too slight in the incline to create a fall1 too short to create a rapid or stickle1 and too smooth to cause a broken surface1 yet with a rapid run below4 ,the result is a glassy glide1 gin-clear1 with an air of unusual smoothness1 and such a pace that there is an immediate drag upon any floating fly which is laid upon the current4 ,often some of the handsomest and best fighting trout in the river are to be found in such places1 where their blood is constantly refreshed by the highly oxygenated water1 their health and energy kept up to the mark by the need of contending against its swiftness1 and the inducement to so contend is present in the plentiful supply of food brought down by the current4 ,such a glide do ,i know well1 with some excellent fish always showing there1 but never breaking the surface2 and for years ,i found them impregnable1 for the simple reason that1 if one pitched a fly over their noses1 it was past them before they could rise to it1 and if one pitched it up enough to give the fish a chance to take it they wouldn't1 because there was a prompt and streaky drag if the line were1 as it could hardly help being1 the least little bit across stream4 ,even the natural fly would sail over them unmolested4 ,but one day some years back1 on a calm afternoon in ,july1 with not a trout rising1 ,i was on the ,itchen1 and ,i had crawled up some half-mile of sedgy bank in search of a feeding fish without finding one4 ,but on the far side1 in front of a certain post1 the remnant of a one-time fence1 ,i knew from experience that there was usually a fish--at any rate at feeding-time4 ,there was nothing to suggest any particular dry fly1 and on the previous afternoon--a ,sunday--,i had spent a pleasant twenty minutes watching a fish in front of the stump taking something under water with a sort of porpoise roll4 ,it therefore occurred to me to put up one of those little ,greenwell's ,glories1 dressed by ,forrest of ,kelso on pairs of ,no4 #jj hooks to gut1 with which the name of ,mr4 ,ewen ,m4 ,tod is associated4 ,i had bought them in the previous spring to experiment upon bulging trout4 ,these flies are known as 8doubles10 and are not ready floaters4 ,one puts a thumb-nail between the barb1 and forces them apart till the two hooks form an angle of #de degrees with each other4 ,the fly dropped a yard above the post and sank4 ,when it should have been nearing the post1 a faint swirl rising to the surface seemed a sufficient indication of a movement below to justify a raising of the rod-point1 and the fish was fast4 ,in this manner it came about that a small ,greenwell's ,glory on double hooks terminated the cast when the glassy glide above adverted to was reached4 ,a trout lay out in it in position to feed1 but though he moved a little from side to side1 and may have been intercepting food1 he made no rise4 ,keeping well out of sight1 ,i dropped the ,glory on the far side of and in front of the fish1 and it at once went under4 ,again came the small disturbance welling quickly to the surface2 up went my hand1 and again a good trout was fast4 ,that afternoon ,i killed two and a half brace of good fish with the wet fly fished into likely places without seeing a single rise4 ,the other three fish--but that is another story4 ,since that day ,i have killed many a good fish in that hitherto impossible spot1 and one morning in ,july1 #aijh1 ,i had two and a half brace in less than an hour with a wet double ,tup's ,indispensable out of it4 ,,of ,,the ,,wet ,,fly ,,in ,,pools1 ,,bays1 ,,and ,,eddies4 ,there is probably no problem which has filled the souls of so many dry-fly anglers with the despair attending defeat as that presented by a day when a cross-stream wind1 whether up and across1 down and across1 or straight across1 drives every dun under the opposite bank1 and into little pools and eddies between the prominences on that bank1 and so out of the line of the current which would otherwise carry them along4 ,then every big trout in the river seems to shift out of the current and into the sheltered bay or eddy1 and there he sets to work collecting with busy neb the little argosies which have lost their tide1 and are drifting helpless on slack water4 ,it seems so easy to drop the fly in the right place4 ,so it is1 but if1 as is many times more than probable1 your cruiser is away a foot or two1 or is deliberate in his movements1 and does not take the fly at once1 your drag has made itself painfully evident1 and your fish is down for half an hour4 ,no1 on those occasions the only chance with the dry fly is to hit your fish with it on the tip of the nose at a moment when few naturals are about4 ,then he may snap it--but what a number of chances against its so falling6 ,no1 here is a case in which the wet fly is clearly predicated1 and it should be so dressed as to go under without the least hesitation4 ,the advantage which the wet fly has is not that the trout is taking the nymph in preference to the floating dun1 though he is probably doing that far more than is apparent1 but that1 whereas a drag on the surface is fatal and betrays the gut1 an under-water drag is not betraying1 and the movement of the fly caused by the drag may1 in its beginning at any rate1 be even attractive to the trout1 as imparting motion suggesting life and volition to an otherwise suspicious object4 ,the drag also serves to tighten instead of slackening the line1 so that a very small strike fixes the hook4 ,when the trout takes a wet fly in such a position1 the surface indications are by no means obvious2 but if the angler be on the alert to strike when such indications come1 it is wonderful how soon he can pick up the knack1 and what excellent fish this method brings him4 ,a strike which does not touch the fish1 being in the nature of an under-water drawing of the fly1 will often have no scaring effect upon a feeding fish1 where a strike with a floating fly would send him headlong to cover4 ,it is difficult to pick among my recollections one instance more illustrative than another of the value of this method1 but ,i will take an afternoon in ,july1 #aijh4 ,it was a cold day for the time of year1 with a keen north-westerly wind across and a little down4 ,a few little pale duns were going down1 being beaten by the wind into and among the bays along the opposite bank1 where they dodged in and out among the flags4 ,three trout1 and three only1 could ,i find moving1 and they were taking every dun which went over them4 ,i tried ,little ,marryat1 ,medium ,olive1 ,flight's ,fancy1 ,ginger ,quill1 and ,red ,quill1 in vain4 ,in fact ,i put all three down4 ,but they meant feeding1 and were soon going again4 ,it was the last day of a seven-day visit4 ,i had so far forty-six trout1 and ,i wanted to round off the fifty4 ,i put up as an experiment a tiny dotterel hackle1 tied with primrose tying silk in the true ,stewart style1 not with the fibres radiating from the head1 but palmer-wise for halfway down the body4 ,the trout had it at the very first offer1 and was duly landed4 ,i went on to the next1 and got him almost immediately4 ,the third1 for some reason1 had no use for ,dotterel duns1 but the moment ,i covered him with a ,tup's ,indispensable he slashed it1 and joined the other two in my creel4 ,i looked in vain for a fourth1 and there was no evening rise1 so ,i had to leave off with but forty-nine of my fifty4 ,but for the wet fly1 ,i am convinced ,i should have had to content myself with the single brace which the morning rise had brought me1 and that would have been a disappointing ending to a good seven days4 ,,of ,,the ,,judicious ,,use ,,of ,,the ,,moon4 ,though blinder than the proverbial bat in any slanting light1 and therefore not as fortunate as ,i should like to be in fishing the evening rise1 and though academically of opinion that fishing should cease when the dusk no longer lets the angler discern his fly1 ,i confess to being at least as unwilling as any better endowed with sight to leave the water-side while the trout are still busy sucking down the spinners2 but there are occasions when1 if the moon be up enough to cast black shadows under the banks1 and ,i can find the suitable spot with rising fish1 ,i envy no man his superior eyesight--mine is good enough4 ,let me illustrate my meaning by describing the occasion on which ,i made my little discovery4 ,it was an evening in ,july4 ,i had not begun fishing before four o'clock1 and the afternoon had only earned me a single trout1 and he no great shakes1 either4 ,the evening rise came on1 and the trout began to feed briskly2 but my infirmity was against me1 and ,i missed or misjudged several rises1 and it began to look as if ,i were going to make nothing of my opportunity1 when ,i came to a bend where the current swung in pitch-black shadow under the opposite bank1 while between the near edge of the shadow and my bank the stream ran molten moonlight4 ,round the bend in the dark ,i could hear the trout feeding away gaily1 and the rings of their rises surged into the silver of the lighted current4 ,it seemed a mad thing to do1 but ,i despatched my ,tup's ,indispensable to a spot in the dark as near as ,i could judge above the ring of a good fish4 ,my cast lay like a hair on the surface1 stretching into the dark1 not too taut4 ,suddenly ,i saw my gut draw straight upon the current1 the farther end disappearing under the sheen of the moonlight1 and1 without waiting to think1 ,i raised my rod-point1 to find myself in battle with a solid fish4 ,thrice in the twenty minutes the rise lasted did ,i repeat this experience4 ,each trout was soundly hooked1 and a nice level lot they were1 running from one and a quarter to one and a half pounds4 ,thus was success at the last moment pulled by a fluke out of almost certain defeat4 ,it is not always possible to find place and light serving in this way1 but if you do1 make use of the moon4 ,,the ,,wet-,,fly ,,oil ,,tip4 ,in my observations upon the judicious use of the moon1 ,i indicated the advantage to be derived1 in cases where the light prevented the rise from being otherwise detected in due time1 from watching the gut cast as a float signalling the taking of the fly4 ,indeed1 it is not only by night that the cast may be watched with advantage1 but often by day when casting a fly1 wet or dry1 but especially wet1 into a bad light1 while the cast or part of it may be seen floating on a glassy piece of water4 ,it is now some years since1 in the columns of the ,fishing ,gazette1 ,i called attention to what ,i described as the 8wet-fly oil tip0 in this connection4 ,i take no credit for this invention4 ,it belongs entirely to ,mr4 ,c4 ,a4 ,m4 ,skues1 the secretary of the ,fly-fishers' ,club1 and its discovery came about in this way3 ,we were fishing opposite banks of a ,german trout stream1 the ,erlaubnitz1 and the day rise of fly was over4 ,the trout1 which had been hovering over their pockets in the weeds and in the runs between them1 had dropped out of sight1 and it was obvious that it would need something to attract them more noticeable than the pale watery duns which were the staple of the season4 ,we agreed upon ,soldier ,palmers tied with bright scarlet seal's fur4 ,presently the far bank began catching them1 though he was fishing upstream wet in rather fast water4 ,i hailed him1 and he said he had paraffined his gut cast to within the last two links from the fly and watched his cast4 ,i was not above a hint1 and in a minute or two ,i was experiencing the benefit of the wet-fly oil tip1 and we were kept busy till six o'clock brought on the usual rise of ,little ,pale ,blue of ,autumn1 and a change to floating patterns4 ,it also involved a change of cast1 for a cross-stream cast with oiled gut betrays you with a vile drag4 ,it is a disadvantage of paraffining your gut that it limits you to one cast--viz41 that directly upstream4 ,but there are times when it is well to accept the limitation4 ,,of ,,generalship ,,and ,,the ,,wet ,,fly4 ,there is a bend on ,itchen where the water runs deep and black4 ,over the best of it hang three large trees1 under which1 if trout be rising anywhere on the river1 they will be found pegging away1 and often when they are moving nowhere else4 ,the place is near the spot where anglers foregather for lunch and a pull at pipe or flask2 so the fish under these trees are hammered more than a little1 and their knowledge is in direct proportion to their experience4 ,here1 too1 anglers usually take apart their split canes in the evening1 and1 ere they do so1 have one last chuck in the dusk with ,sedge1 ,coachman1 or large ,red ,quill at one or all of these rising trout1 but it is the rarest thing for one to be caught4 ,i have caught six of them in fifteen years4 ,perhaps it is because to cover them one must fish straight across from the opposite bank--no other attack is possible--and they can hardly fail to see rod and angler4 ,but it fell about in the year of grace #aiji that my lawful occasions took me along the right bank1 on which the trees grew1 past the haunt of these aggravating risers1 and ,i took the occasion to observe4 ,none of them were moving at the time1 and the water was lower by some inches than the normal4 ,i looked in the place where the best of the risers was usually present when attending to business1 but he was not there4 ,four or five yards farther upstream the bottom1 from being shallow1 dipped suddenly to the deep1 with a sharp brown earthy edge1 and there1 lying in shelter from the current under the earthy ledge at the head of the hole1 lay a trout which ,i put down at a comforting two pounds4 ,he saw me1 and slithered into his fastness1 but ,i did not forget the hint4 ,many times had ,i cast to that trout when rising1 but always under a tree some yards below4 ,now ,i would cast to him when not rising1 and ,i would fish him in his hide4 ,the lowest of a small cohort of ribbon-weeds craning their tips gently over the surface indicated the neighbourhood of the lip of the hole1 and1 scanning the opposite side carefully1 ,i marked the exact bunch of yellow flower from behind which ,i ought to deliver my cast1 and marked on the hither bank a bunch of purple hemlock which indicated the centre of the hole4 ,later in the day from the opposite bank ,i sent over a wet ,tup's ,indispensable to the weed's edge several times without avail4 ,the next time ,i came down the fish was rising to surface food1 and ,i left him severely alone4 ,my time was to be when he was not rising1 for no trout seems able to resist a nymph at any time1 even if not feeding1 and a nymph of sorts he should have4 ,coming back later1 ,i found stillness reigning2 so1 mounting a ,tup's ,indispensable1 ,i soaked it well1 and flicked it over to the edge of the weeds4 ,it lit1 and went under1 leaving the gut for the most part along the surface4 ,the gut drifted down1 the fly end slowly slipping under the upper film4 ,the fly was withdrawn and the cast repeated4 ,once more the gut lay along the surface2 once more it slipped slowly through to a point2 then it seemed to move under with a certain decision4 ,i raised my rod-point with a drawing action1 and the trout which had defied ten thousand dry flies was on4 ,he wasn't quite two pounds1 but it doesn't matter4 ,it was generalship which got him1 which discerned that in his holt he was possibly accessible to the seductions of the casual nymph-suggesting wet fly in a way in which he was not accessible to the temptations of the too well known dry fly in the place of vantage where he daily fed4 ,a ,,potted ,,trout1 ,,and ,,one ,,other4 ,when the drowners are out in the water-meadows flushing the ditches till they flood the tables and drench the grasses with water seeking its way back through the herbage to the river by way of ditch1 drain1 and carrier1 the wise old trout who know their business may be found in narrow ditches and channels down to foot-wide runnels in search of the earthworm and the miscellaneous pickings of the grasslands4 ,again1 when ,july comes round1 and the season of minnowing is indicated1 the big trout once more make their way1 in search of minnows1 into the narrower irrigation channels of the water-meadows4 ,so ardent are they at times in pursuit of their quarry that on occasion it is possible to net them out without their becoming aware of their danger4 ,on one occasion ,i got three good trout thus from behind at one scoop of the landing-net1 and turned them back into the main4 ,often1 if they get into a channel with a constant flow and a steady food-supply1 trout will not care to drop back to the river1 and will take up a position of strength1 where1 inaccessible to the fly of the angler1 they daily increase in size and lustihood4 ,such potted fish are almost entirely subaqueous feeders1 a floating dun rarely crossing their field of vision4 ,they grow dark and copper-coloured1 and very unlike the fish of the river from which they hail4 ,one such fish do ,i remember1 who took up his holt in the eddy just above a hatch-hole1 through which ran the whole of a brisk stream some two to two and a half feet wide1 turning at right angles to do so1 after impinging on his eddy as on a sort of water-buffer4 ,it was not hard to approach the place without being seen1 but the moment one looked over the edge his troutship would flash down through the hatch-hole and into the racing stream beneath4 ,several times ,i mounted a ,sedge1 tied on a ,no4 #b hook attached to a strong cast1 and dibbed cautiously over the edge4 ,once ,i caught a companion trout of one pound five ounces1 but on all other occasions the attempt was fruitless4 ,tired at length of these failures1 and not pleased that such a trout as our friend of the hatch-hole eddy should give no sport to the fly1 one afternoon ,i approached the hatch-hole from below1 slid down my wide and large landing-net into the thrust of the stream1 and looked suddenly over into the eddy4 ,there was a brown flash to the hole1 and next moment the trout was kicking in the net--black hogback with red copper sides and gleaming white belly1 two and a half pounds1 and as fat as a pig4 ,swiftly ,i conveyed him the needful fifty yards or so to a side-stream some ten or twelve yards wide1 and turned him carefully loose4 ,he made no pretence of being scared1 but moved leisurely away across and up stream4 ,i watched him cross a patch of weeds and enter a gravelled clearing1 where a tidy trout lay1 butt him out of it1 and establish himself in his place4 ,in a few moments he moved up into the next place1 butted out the brace of trout which occupied it1 and took the position of vantage4 ,he did not remain long1 but moved to the next pool1 again ejecting the occupants4 ,still dissatisfied1 he moved higher up to where the stream was narrowed by camp-sheathing to support a low wooden bridge over which carts pass to carry the meadow hay4 ,here he ejected the three or four occupants1 and established himself finally1 with his neb close up under the sill of the bridge--too close for a fly to be got in ahead of him--obviously with the key of the larder in his pocket2 and here daily for the next five days of my stay ,i saw him firmly planted1 but1 though ,i plied him with ,sedge1 and ,quill1 and ,tup's ,indispensable1 wet fly and dry fly1 ,i never got an offer or an indication of a desire to offer from him1 nor did ,i ever see him break the surface1 and ,i left him in situ at the end of my visit4 ,during these five days1 however1 crossing from the smaller stream to the main1 ,i saw a trout in a foot-wide runnel hovering with that quivering of the fins that indicates a willingness to feed4 ,he was not a big fish--about one pound--but ,i thought it would be sport to try and cast to him and catch him in so narrow a channel1 and ,i knelt down to deliver the fly4 ,he saw me1 however1 and moved up4 ,it was on my way 'cross meadow to the main1 so ,i followed him till ,i came to the place where the runnel's water-supply issued from a pipe which entered its head1 at right angles to its course1 from the centre of one of the tables4 ,the flow from the pipe had worried out a corner hole1 which was wide and deep enough to admit my whole landing-net and a bit over1 and ,i dipped it in4 ,i saw the amber gleam of my trout as he slashed by me and fled back down the runnel he had ascended1 but wriggling in the net which ,i lifted was a bouncing fish1 black1 hogbacked1 with copper sides and white belly1 in first-rate fettle1 and weighing better1 at a guess1 than one and a half pounds1 evidently an old inhabitant of that corner4 ,the main was but a few yards off1 and ,i carefully turned in my captive4 ,two days later ,i was fishing up the bank of the main in blazing sunshine1 searching for a rising fish1 but finding none1 when my attention was attracted by a movement in the water close under my bank some ten or fifteen yards above the spot where ,i turned the trout in4 ,i dropped my wet ,greenwell's ,glory a foot or so from the spot1 and1 answering the draw of the floating gut signalling some under-water adhesion1 ,i tightened on a nice fish1 and after the usual preliminary exhibition of coyness1 emphasized by sundry jumpings1 ,i persuaded him to come ashore4 ,the spring-balance said one pound ten ounces4 ,colour1 size1 and shape1 were identical with the trout ,i had turned back two days before1 and though1 of course1 ,i cannot prove it1 ,i have no doubt he was the same4 ,now1 why did one of these potted trout take the fly1 and the other refuse8 ,this is my theory3 ,both had got the exclusive habit of subaqueous feeding1 but the big one had his nose in a position where it was impossible to get a wet fly to him so as to pitch above him1 or even alongside of his head1 and the water was too fast for it to be worth the while of a fish of his calibre to turn and follow a mere nymph4 ,the smaller fish was in a position to be covered1 and the moment the nymph came to him under water he had it as a matter of course4 ,possibly1 in the same position the larger trout might have done the same4 ,,of ,,two ,,saturday ,,afternoons4 ,they were consecutive4 ,both were in ,august1 #aiji1 and the reason why they are recorded is not because of any remarkable success1 but because they illustrate varying conditions on the same river1 proving amenable to varying treatment4 ,the first found me by the water-side soon after two o'clock4 ,the morning rise was completely over4 ,not even a grayling was rising4 ,the water was deadly still4 ,a full stream was running1 because the hay-makers were in the meadows1 and no water that could be kept out was being let into ditches and carriers2 so it was no good exploring them for stray risers1 as at other times ,i might have done4 ,for some time ,i explored likely places under the sedges with floating flies--,no4 #a ,red ,sedge with hare's-ear body1 ,red ,ant1 and ,tup's ,indispensable--but without eliciting the faintest response4 ,then about five o'clock ,i put up a wet ,greenwell's ,glory1 and cast it upstream1 wet1 into every little likely pool between the bank and the weed-bed which grew intermittently a yard or two out from the bank4 ,the change was immediate4 ,by six o'clock ,i had three and a half brace of average fish 7biggest one pound ten ounces71 all on the same fly4 ,fish would surge a yard or more to meet it1 would even turn downstream and take it1 though the floating fly had not moved a single one to offer4 ,there was no evening rise4 ,the following ,saturday ,i was down at the same time4 ,there was the same faint westerly breeze1 and much the same light4 ,a few--very few--grayling were taking black gnats for a short time after my arrival1 but they soon stopped entirely1 and ,i had only one in my basket4 ,not a rise dimpled the surface4 ,i continued1 however1 casting a ,black ,gnat under my own bank--the right--for some forty or fifty yards1 without an offer4 ,i had the mortification of seeing three handsome trout move out from position1 and ,i was just about to change to a ,hare's ,ear ,sedge when ,i saw a grass-moth flutter out of the sedges and across the water4 ,as luck would have it1 ,i had four floating ,grannom in my cap1 and it didn't take long to knot one on4 ,in a few minutes ,i was into a trout1 which took as the fly lit4 ,i landed him1 and then another1 and yet a further brace1 every one of which took the ,grannom without the least hesitation4 ,then ,i found myself trenching on the beat of another angler1 and ,i bethought me that the three fish ,i had disturbed might be back in position2 so ,i turned down1 and1 getting below them1 cast carefully to where they ought to be4 ,i whipped one fly off2 then with the new fly ,i rose the first of them--quite a nice fish--hooked him1 and lost him after a short tussle4 ,examining the hook1 ,i found it pulled out nearly straight owing to a soft wire4 ,whether that rattled me or not ,i don't know1 but ,i left my two remaining ,grannom in the other two fish successively4 ,having no more1 ,i fell back on the ,sedge in vain4 ,equally vain were ,red ,ant 7dry7 and ,greenwell's ,glory and ,tup's ,indispensable 7wet71 and1 as there was no evening rise1 ,i finished up with a basket of two and a half brace1 which with better handling should have been four brace4 ,on each of these afternoons there was no rise of fish or fly2 and on one nothing but a floating pattern did any good1 on the other nothing but a sunk pattern4 ,the inference that ,i might have gone back blank on the first occasion but for the supplemental aid of the wet-fly method does not seem far-fetched4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,unclassified ,,of ,,hovering ,,and ,,soaring1 ,,and ,,of ,,cruising ,,trout4 ,the trout that is glued to the bottom is generally a pretty hopeless fish4 ,he is either not willing to feed1 or1 being willing1 his suspicions have been aroused and he has gone down4 ,pretty stories are told of how such fish are occasionally startled into taking by the fly being slammed down with violence on or just behind their heads1 but no such instance has come within my experience4 ,but the trout which is hovering in mid-water or near the surface is always a hopeful subject4 ,anglers will tell you he is willing to feed4 ,in my belief1 he is more than that2 he is generally actively feeding--under water4 ,i remember a trout which lay in the same hole with six grayling4 ,he was hovering not far below the surface1 but would have nothing to say to a series of dry flies of appropriate pattern offered him2 but a wet ,greenwell's ,glory was too much for him1 and he turned and took it first cast4 ,he was undoubtedly feeding on nymphs1 but not over weed1 and so not bulging2 yet he presented only the appearance of hovering1 or1 as ,walton generally calls it1 8soaring40 ,another likely fish is the cruiser on his way to his feeding-station4 ,if ,i see a wedge-shaped ripple advancing irregularly upstream1 and broken at times by a dimple in the centre1 ,i always feel hopeful1 and ,i know that such trout are nearly always of unusual size for the water4 ,it is1 of course1 difficult to place the fly exactly2 but if that difficulty is overcome1 your trout will take it most unsuspiciously4 ,the best course is to throw to one side and a little ahead of the last rise4 ,a more difficult proposition is the cruiser who has a small defined beat4 ,you find him moving up the bank in such wise that every cast is short of his rise2 but suddenly1 if you are not ware1 you will find that he has turned and sailed downstream to the bottom of his beat1 and that your rod and line are absolutely over him4 ,such a trout seems always fastidious and picksome1 but it is all the more gratifying to circumvent him4 ,he is usually taking toll of insects collected in eddies1 and a spinner of sorts is more likely to take him than a dun2 but he will often rush for a fly that is being withdrawn under water4 ,,of ,,the ,,porpoise ,,roll4 ,there is one peculiarly irritating kind of rise in which trout indulge4 ,just like porpoises1 they come up1 and1 scarcely breaking the surface with the head1 expose first the back fin and then the tail as they go down4 ,often of an afternoon or evening it seems as if every trout in the river were busy at this game4 ,the difficulty is to know1 on such occasions1 what they are taking4 8,detached ,badger0 7p4 #aai of 8,dry-,fly ,fishing07 suggests larv1 but though at times ,i have caught fish thus rising with sunk flies1 ,i am inclined to doubt their taking nymphs or larv1 and to suspect spinners4 ,this 7even if the trout be taking nymphs7 is not properly described as 8bulging10 that term being confined to the swashing rises when a fish rushes to and fro1 making visible waves1 ending in a boil as it turns in the act of fielding the subaqueous insect4 ,fortunately1 this porpoise type of rise is rare1 for when trout indulge in it sport is consistently bad4 ,i have been promising myself for the last two or three seasons that1 when ,i drop on such a rise1 ,i will try ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford's spent spinner patterns1 but in an average number of days' fishing ,i have failed to drop on an occasion when the trout have been thus rising4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,sundry ,,considerations ,,of ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,pattern ,,to ,,the ,,position ,,of ,,trout1 ,,and ,,herein ,,of ,,the ,,taking ,,off ,,of ,,wary ,,willy4 ,it is perhaps a small matter which is treated under this head1 but anything which helps the angler to a correct selection of fly is so much to the good1 and the point ,i want to make here is that the haunt of a fish is an item to be taken note of in deciding what items to put upon the menu to be offered for his selection4 ,for instance1 if your trout be in position in the middle of a fairly wide stream1 and that be his habitual post1 it is practically little good giving him an imitation of any insect which haunts the bank only1 such as alder in its season1 sedge1 grass-moth1 or willow-fly1 which1 on the other hand1 may be tried in their season1 with every prospect of success1 upon fish under the banks4 ,well do ,i remember how marked this rule was in its application on a day in ,september1 #aijc1 on a ,german limestone river4 ,in the middle the willow-fly1 which was out in quantity that day1 was no good4 ,the trout wanted duns1 and willow-flies were no use to them1 or probably there1 away from the banks1 were practically unknown2 but under the alder and willow-fringed banks on either side the trout took the spent willow-fly freely1 and1 of thirty-seven trout1 no less than thirty-four fell that day to the willow-fly under the banks1 but not one from mid-river4 ,many a time the trout will take a sedge or an imitation of the grass-moth under the banks when quite shy of them in midstream4 ,in connection with this ,i may record an incident which is framed in my mind as the strange disappearance of ,wary ,willy4 ,wary ,willy was almost a public character4 ,he inhabited a club water not far from ,winchester1 and was always at his post when duty called4 ,but he was of an obliging turn of mind1 and always ready to show sport to the new-comer who might be tempted to put a fly over him4 ,yet it was not for nothing that he had earned his name1 for1 though many had risen him1 none was recorded as having hooked him4 ,his holt was under a grassy bank 7right of the river71 about three yards above the spot where a willow stump extended a solitary branch at right angles to the current1 a foot above and about two yards out into the stream1 so that any angler who paid his respects to ,william had to send his invitation across the willow-bough1 a state of things which led to difficulties and language for the angler1 and to an amused retreat on the part of ,willy4 ,yet a short time later he would be back at his post1 adding to his collection of the ,ephemerid with undiminished zest4 ,i was not a member of the club1 but ,i paid a visit to a friend who had a rod1 and he very good-naturedly insisted on my trying his nine-foot ,leonard over ,wary ,willy1 and he brought me to the place4 ,i had no tackle with me1 so ,i had to use my friend's floating flies4 ,the wind was light and in the right direction1 and ,i got my fly over the branch nicely and covered him several times1 and as ,i let my reel-line drop on the water below the branch the current carried my fly back successfully a number of times2 but at length ,i was hung up1 and when ,i tried to release myself ,willy had business elsewhere4 ,on this water the club members and the keepers said that sedges were no use4 ,it was a dun and spinner water only4 ,so when in the afternoon ,i met the head-keeper1 and saw a small ,red ,sedge in his cap1 ,i made no bones of asking for it1 as it was of no use4 ,borrowing the ,leonard once more1 ,i tied on the ,red ,sedge1 and stole up cautiously to ,willy's abode4 ,but just ere ,i got to position a fish rose to the right of his place1 about three yards out from the bank4 ,i did not wish him to scare ,willy1 so1 to get him out of the way first1 ,i dropped the sedge upon his nose1 and he had it immediately4 ,he was very indignant at the imposition that had been put upon him1 and turned several somersaults in the air1 and altogether put up quite a good fight for a fish of his ounces1 which numbered twenty-five1 before my friend's landing-net received him4 ,i had1 however1 steered him carefully1 so that his antics should not disturb ,william1 and ,i approached that worthy's holt with a modest confidence that ,william stood in the way of getting a surprise4 ,but ,william was not there4 ,william never came back4 ,he couldn't4 ,he was dead1 and in my friend's landing-net4 ,but it was several days before remorse began to work in me1 for it was not till a week or so later that my friend told me of the disappearance of ,wary ,willy4 ,but ,willy had always been fished with duns4 ,he knew all the patterns of ,holland and ,chalkley and ,ogden ,smith1 but never had he had cause to suspect the genuineness of a sedge--and so1 good-bye ,willy6 ,,of ,,the ,,use ,,of ,,spinners ,,during ,,the ,,rise ,,of ,,duns1 ,,and ,,herein ,,of ,,the ,,vagaries ,,of ,,the ,,blue-,,winged ,,olive4 8,the ,red ,quill10 says ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford1 8is one of the sheet-anchors of the dry-fly fisherman on a strange river when in doubt40 ,never was a truer word spoken4 ,mr4 ,englefield of ,winchester1 ,i believe1 conducted the experiment of confining himself to the ,red ,quill 7in a variety of sizes and shades1 and with and without the addition of gold and silver tags7 for a whole season1 and did as well with the one fly as in other seasons with a larger selection4 ,and it is a remarkable fact that the ,red ,quill1 bearing more resemblance to a ,red ,spinner than to a dun1 will frequently kill during a rise of duns as well as1 or better than1 quite a good imitation of the dun itself4 ,it will also be found that during the rise of any kind of dun its spinner will often take as well as1 if not better than1 the subimago pattern4 ,for instance1 a ,red ,spinner during a rise of olives1 a ,claret ,spinner when the iron blue dun is on1 and a ,sherry ,spinner when the blue-winged olive is on4 ,all the spinners do not die and fall spent on the water over night4 ,some come on to the water in the cool of the early morning1 and if the angler tries in the hot weather for an early morning trout1 the spinner may be commended to him as giving him his best chance1 so far as floating patterns are concerned4 ,and when1 before the rise comes on1 an odd fish or so may be found in position putting up occasionally at something1 spinners may legitimately be suspected4 ,therefore it may be that1 when the rise comes on1 the memory of a recent acquaintance with more delicious morsels than the current duns leads to a readiness on his part to absorb the floating imitation spinner4 ,the blue-winged olive is a large and handsome fly1 and its hatch is usually an evening matter1 though ,i have seen it at all hours of the day4 ,but when it is on1 and there are other duns at the same time1 it is always possible to distinguish the trout which are taking the blue-winged olive by the curious shape of the boil they make in taking it2 a kidney-shaped boil1 with two distinct whorls right and left4 ,and if the angler is provided with ,orange ,quills on ,no4 #a hooks1 and will pick out these fish1 he may count on sport worth remembering1 though possibly not a spinner may be on the water at the time4 ,curiously enough1 such a thing as a good imitation of the blue-winged olive in the subimago form has yet to be invented4 ,patterns are tied which will kill an occasional trout1 but the ,orange ,quill1 if the rise be anything like a good one1 means three or four brace1 and probably all big fish4 ,one evening1 ,june #bd in #aijh1 ,i ran down to ,winchester by the #f4ej train to see ,eton v4 ,winchester on the next day1 and ,i got down there about eight o'clock4 ,i had not meant to fish overnight1 but ,i thought there was time for a cast before the dusk drew in1 and ,i picked up a nine-foot ,leonard and a landing-net1 stuck a damper with a cast in my pocket1 and a small box of flies1 and got down to a broad shallow4 ,i found several fish rising1 and at once diagnosed the blue-winged olive4 ,so ,i tied on a large ,orange ,quill and cast to the nearest4 ,up he came1 and was off with a flounder4 ,without losing a moment1 ,i covered the next with the ensuing cast4 ,the same thing occurred1 and ,i promptly dropped my next cast a yard to the right over the third fish4 ,he1 too1 came up and fastened4 ,he went straight to weed1 but1 holding him quite lightly1 ,i soon had the satisfaction of feeling him beat himself free of the weeds1 and presently ,i netted him out4 ,the fly was quite soaked1 and ,i tried to change it1 but it was too dark1 and so ,i knocked off1 having risen three trout to the ,orange ,quill in three successive casts4 ,some years ago ,i dressed for my friend1 ,m4 ,louis ,bougl1 of ,paris and the ,fly-fishers' ,club1 a winged imitation of the blue-winged olive1 which is at certain seasons almost the only dun on the chalk streams of ,normandy1 and he can kill an occasional fish on it4 ,its dressing is immaterial1 for ,i never could do any good with it myself2 but one evening ,i was fishing the ,varennes with ,m4 ,bougl1 when there came on a good fall of blue-winged olive spinner4 ,my friend caught a trout with his pattern1 and by the aid of a spoon ,i got from its stomach1 and turned into a glass1 three large greenish-amber spinners1 with the distinctive three set2 and next morning in a capital light ,i tied an imitation of these insects1 spent-gnat-wise1 with seal's fur body of palish yellow-green olive of appropriate mixture of furs4 ,next evening we each got fish with these imitations1 ,m4 ,bougl more than ,i1 and ,i have always been promising myself that ,i will put it up one blue-winged olive evening on the ,hampshire rivers2 but when the occasion has come1 and that distinctive rise is seen1 ,i have never been able to resist taking the ,orange ,quill rather than the spent olive pattern out of the box where they repose together4 ,it is hard to resist three or four brace4 ,,of ,,general ,,feeders1 ,,and ,,herein ,,of ,,the ,,undoing ,,of ,,aunt ,,sally4 ,there are places in most rivers--generally1 ,i think1 about the spots most frequented by man--where trout establish themselves1 which seem1 though willing enough to take duns as they come1 to be independent of them as a staple food1 and to take gaily every day and all day long1 and often far into the night1 whatever fly-food comes along1 always excepting1 bien entendu1 the angler's flies1 however delicately offered4 ,such trout are readily put off their feed1 but not for long1 and the angler1 returning to the spot after a short absence1 may make up his mind to find his friend back in position1 pegging away as freely as ever4 ,everyone has a chuck at these fish--no one can resist them2 but it is a rare thing for one to be caught--and the ,coachman may account for a few4 ,a strong ruffle in the water may enable you to take one unaware1 but1 generally speaking1 the ordinary tactics1 whether dry-fly or wet1 are thrown away on such fish1 and the only chance is to fall back on something exceptional either in lure or in method of attack1 or both4 ,followeth the example of ,the ,undoing of ,aunt ,sally4 ,she was called ,aunt ,sally because everyone felt bound to have a shy at her4 ,her coign of vantage was near the bottom of the water1 where the fishery begins1 and her irritating 8pip1 pip10 as she took fly after fly in the culvert that was her home was too much for the nerves of nine anglers out of ten1 so that the absurdest efforts to circumvent her were made daily--efforts to float a dry upwinged dun down the culvert from the top3 result1 immediate and irremediable drag2 efforts to flick a fly upstream to her in the culvert from below3 result1 broken rod-tops1 barbless hooks1 flies flicked off against the brickwork1 and other disasters1 leading to profanity4 ,the locus in quo was a stream in the ,south of ,england1 flowing some fifteen yards or so wide at a good even pace1 with a nice purl on it1 down to and past a deep hole used for bathing by the farmers' lads4 ,from this hole1 a culvert in the left bank1 a yard wide and1 say1 four yards long1 diverts a considerable body of the stream into a new channel1 to drive a mill in the town below4 ,this was the fastness in which ,aunt ,sally had taken up her abode1 and throughout the spring and summer had defied all efforts to dislodge her4 ,it was my first visit to the stream that year1 and from #i a4m4 till #c p4m4 on an ,august day ,i had worked away for meagre results4 ,there was no rise of fly after ten o'clock1 and a strong rise of water-rats4 ,three trout had ,i turned over1 and one of one pound two ounces reposed in my bag4 ,i had not seen a rising fish for hours1 when1 weary and disappointed1 ,i drifted down the right bank to the bottom of the fishery1 and sat down to rest on the steps which are set in the hole to assist bathers in clambering out4 8,pip60 ,i heard coming from somewhere4 ,i looked upstream1 ,i looked under my own bank1 but not a sign of a ring was to be seen4 8,pip1 pip60 again4 ,at last1 leaning low and looking through the culvert1 ,i saw1 some two yards down1 what ,i took to be a dimple of a rising fish4 ,watching a few moments1 ,i saw it repeated1 and my spirits revived4 ,my point was fine1 so ,i took it off and knotted on a yard of sound ,refina gut1 and ended it with a brown beetle with peacock's herl body and red legs4 ,i soaked him well1 so that there should be no drag on the surface1 and then1 getting my length for the other side1 let the fly and gut drag in the stream till the moment ,i made my cast4 ,fly and gut together struck the brick face of the culvert1 and fell in a heap at the mouth4 ,instantly the current caught the fly and gut1 and extended it down the culvert4 ,almost at the same moment the current of the main stream1 across which my reel-line lay1 began to drag upon it1 and completed the extension of the gut by the time the beetle had run a short two yards down the culvert4 ,at once it began to drag back4 ,this was too much for ,aunt ,sally--to have that beetle scuttling from her when it was almost in her mouth4 ,she came at it1 and in a flash secured it ere it could escape from the culvert2 and before she could turn she was skull-dragged out of her fastness and turned down into the stream below4 ,she made a determined fight for it1 but she was very soundly hooked1 and ,i gave no needless law1 so that her fifteen inches were soon laid out upon the grass4 ,not knowing of her fame1 ,i was quite content with her one pound eleven ounces2 but an angler who told me of her reputation said she had always been put down as a much bigger fish4 ,an hour later ,i looked down the culvert again1 but the water had dropped some inches1 and there was not enough current through the culvert to make it fishable4 ,i had hit the happy moment for the undoing of ,aunt ,sally4 ,,of ,,attention ,,to ,,casual ,,feeders4 ,the happening fish is a godsend to the angler whom time or trains1 failure to find the taking fly1 or other act of ,god or the ,king's enemies1 have prevented from making his basket during the main hatch of duns4 ,by the 8happening fish0 is to be understood1 not the chance riser to a chance cast1 but the trout which1 by reason of a larger stomach capacity1 misfortune of position1 shortage of fly1 disinclination for the society of tailers1 or the pursuit of the succulent shrimp1 or neglect of his opportunities during the main rise1 is left hungry1 or at least hungry enough not to have left off feeding after--often long after--the main rise has faded out2 and also the trout whose hearty appetite ranges him under the bank in advance of the rise1 in a state of impatience for his meal1 which leads him to sample such hors d'uvres as the stream may bring his way4 ,for reasons which shall be made apparent1 both of these classes of trout offer themselves an easier prey to the angler than the trout who is busy with a steady diet of hatching duns4 ,it is doubtful whether the advice often tendered to the over-eager1 to allow the rising trout to get well set at the wicket1 is really sound1 as1 by the time he is well set1 his appreciation of what is offered him has become greatly sharpened by a prolonged experience of it as it should be1 and he is as likely as not to refuse anything that does not appeal to him as being identical with the natural insect he has been absorbing so much of2 and ,i know no more likely fish to take1 if you get your fly to him right1 than a trout which is cruising up to his feeding-ground1 picking a fly or two on the way4 ,freely ,i confess that whole rises have passed me too many a time without my having succeeded in ascertaining what the trout would take1 and on such days--and again on days when trains have borne me to the water too late for the morning rise--,i might frequently1 but for my friend the casual feeder1 have brought home a toom creel4 ,the places where the casual feeder is to be found at home are various2 but1 speaking generally1 the casual feeder's position depends on the nature of the fare which the time of day affords him1 and the odds are long that from the end of ,may1 when the first of the sedges 7the so-called ,welshman's ,button--the 8,dun ,cut0 of the fathers of angling7 comes upon the water1 that position will be found under the banks where sedge-flies and other bank insects most do congregate1 and from which they venture upon the water2 at bridges where a constriction of the current concentrates the food2 at bridges where spinners are apt to dance until their dancing minutes be done1 and sedges often shelter in brickwork2 at hatches where woodlice and other insects harbour in the wood1 and are prone to drop into the current2 in pockets in the weeds2 and in ditches and carriers where the hatch of duns is sparse and unsatisfactory1 and a trout must rely upon other resources for his daily sustenance4 ,this may be floating or subaqueous1 but is more likely in carriers and swift waters to be subaqueous1 inasmuch as it is only for a brief period that a hatch takes place2 but subaqueous forms of fly-life are always about 7though1 no doubt1 sparsely at other times than that of the rise71 and experience proves that when no definite rise is in progress1 no trout that is on the alert finds it easy to resist a nymph who has left his shelter4 ,hence1 given the willingness of the trout to feed1 and the absence of a steady diet of dominant attractiveness1 there is every inducement for him to be of an open mind as to the provender that will seduce him4 ,then there is our friend the 8tailer10 of whom more elsewhere4 ,thus1 instead of spiking his rod when the morning rise is over1 and taking his ,walton or his ,marcus ,aurelius or his ,omar ,khayym from his pocket1 let the wise angler concentrate on the casual feeder2 and if his reward be not great1 there is every chance of its being quite respectable1 and he may be saved the humiliation of an empty creel4 ,,of ,,the ,,frequentation ,,of ,,ditches1 ,,drains1 ,,and ,,carriers4 ,i know of no sight more gloomy than that of a golfer painfully tramping from shot to shot4 ,but perhaps the next gloomiest sight is the angler who1 with perhaps but a single day at his disposal1 lounges hour by hour by the side of the main river1 waiting with such patience as he can muster for the rise which comes not4 ,let us suppose that he is either unable or too magnanimous to fish the wet fly1 that there are no fish lying1 either visibly or inferentially1 in convenient places under his own bank1 so that they could be fished to with a dry sedge or a ,red ,quill4 ,let him come with me1 and we will pull some sport out of adverse conditions4 ,let us begin here1 where this hatch is letting a goodly supply of water into this carrier for the watering of the meadows4 ,be it known unto you1 ,o angler1 that the trout of ditches and carriers are far less affected by the rise of duns1 and far readier to feed at all times or any time1 than those fish of the main river4 ,here our choice is to fish either a sunk fly1 suggesting a nymph 7for here an upwinged dun can hardly get through undrowned71 a floating fly resembling one of the sedges which dodge about the camp-sheathing or a good-sized ,wickham's ,fancy4 ,search all the tail of the run carefully with one or the other of these patterns1 and it shall go hard with you if you do not get a chance1 at any rate1 from a passable fish--possibly more than one4 ,a little lower down the carrier runs through a culvert1 and1 if the hay-makers have not got him out1 one is likely to find quite a respectable trout just below the arch1 and he is to be had if you fish him right4 ,farther down there is a low wood bridge1 through which the stream flows briskly1 and below this there are usually two or three feeding fish4 ,for some reason these are specially sensitive to shadow4 ,i have had many fish from this spot from both sides1 but never one from the right1 or west1 side after two o'clock1 or from the other side before two4 ,having fished these fish1 and caught or lost or put them down1 let us move over to the next piece of water4 ,it is slow1 and has little weed4 ,if it had been a day with a ruffle of wind1 or had the drowners turned a good current through1 we would have fished it up yard by yard2 but to-day it is no good4 ,but here1 a bit farther on1 a brisk stream runs through a little hatch1 and for a hundred and fifty yards or so makes a most merry little length4 ,keep low in the long grass1 fish it foot by foot1 and1 so far as you can1 turn down all the fish you scare4 ,if you send one up1 sit down and wait4 ,it will not be long ere the others recover their equanimity4 ,on a good day you should get your two brace from this length1 either with ,no4 #a ,red ,sedge1 ,no4 #a ,red ,quill1 ,no4 #j ,pink ,wickham or ,no4 #j ,tup's ,indispensable wet1 or ,no4 #j ,wickham's ,fancy4 ,now let us wind up along another brisk little piece of water1 perhaps fifteen feet wide1 which races in a series of runs1 and stretches right across the meadows4 ,it is known as the ,highland ,burn1 and it is full of sporting fish1 and you must take the chance of hooking a half-pounder along with your chance of a fish nearer two pounds4 ,and do not neglect the ditch which runs in at right angles halfway up4 ,i have seen a past-master take no less than three capital trout from those few yards in one day1 turning each as hooked down into the ,highland ,burn1 and killing him there4 ,,of ,,the ,,negotiation ,,of ,,tailers4 ,authority hath it that 8the best policy is1 perhaps1 to leave tailing fish alone02 but the busy man1 who only gets an occasional day's fishing1 to whom that advice is too trying and disappointing 7meaning me71 was recommended to try an ,orange ,bumble or a ,furnace4 ,with an exception ,i shall presently refer to1 it is some years since ,i have had any experience of tailing trout1 for an alteration in a weir has made such a difference in the pace and level of a length on the chalk stream ,i most do fish1 that whereas in the old days the tailer used to be a common sight there1 nowadays it is the greatest rarity4 ,but in those old days the tailer was my stand-by4 ,if--as was frequently the case--,i made naught of the morning rise1 ,i would betake me to this length and sit down gaily to the siege of each tailer in succession1 with the confidence that1 unless ,i made some mistake and scared the fish--and tailers are not too easily scared--sooner or later he was my fish4 ,it was often later1 for ,i had to go on casting1 casting1 casting1 in the hope that the moment might come when my fly would be passing over the trout at the moment when his head was raised1 and he was taking breath before another big go at the shrimps and other food in the weed-beds4 ,the frequent casting gave much opportunity for mistakes1 and not infrequently ,i scared my fish1 after wasting half an hour or more over him2 but1 on the other hand1 ,i seldom failed to secure at least one fish1 and oftener a leash4 ,the method was simplicity itself4 ,i sat down below my fish1 and dropped a ,pink ,wickham a yard or so above where his tail dimpled the surface1 and floated it down over him quite dry4 ,this was repeated so long as the fish was there1 but if he lifted his head in time to see the fly come over him1 there seemed to be some mysterious attraction in that pattern which forbade him to refuse it4 ,whether this is so in other waters ,i know not1 but ,i often regret the obliteration of the old race of tailers4 ,they were a great stand-by1 and always put up a big battle when hooked4 ,the size of fly was #jj for smooth water1 but in a ruffle the single cipher size proved better medicine4 ,the single occasion above referred to was in ,may1 #aiji1 in a different part of the river4 ,the water was running thinly over a broad shallow1 very full up with weed-beds1 and1 instead of standing nearly perpendicularly on their heads in order to tail1 large numbers of trout and grayling were grubbing at an acute angle with the bottom among the weed-beds1 and with violent wriggles of head and body dislodging small insects1 which they pursued with rushes plainly marked upon the surface1 ending1 at the moment of capture of the prey1 with swirls4 ,i did not put up a ,pink ,wickham1 because ,i had another experiment to make4 ,in the previous ,july ,i had caught three brace before eleven o'clock on a nymph imitated in olive seal's fur from one found in the mouth of a trout on the previous day1 and ,i wanted to give it a trial here1 on the chance that it might be found that it was nymphs1 and not shrimps1 that the tailing fish were shaking out4 ,so1 keeping the artificial nymph soaking at the end of my line in the run at my feet1 ,i despatched it every now and then across the course of the trout1 when1 desisting from their grubbing1 they pursued the flying quarry4 ,it was generally the case that1 by the time the fly lit1 the fish was careering off in some different direction2 but several fish pursued my fly and swirled at it1 and one takable trout and one short of the regulation twelve inches succeeded in taking it4 ,it was a short and most inconclusive experiment1 but1 if occasion serves1 it will be renewed4 ,,of ,,the ,,fascination ,,of ,,bridges4 ,years ago1 before ever ,i knew the ,upper ,itchen1 there was a wooden farm bridge which crossed the main river to carry produce4 ,whether the bridge fell into decay through disuse and neglect consequent upon the fields on the east side being separately let to another farmer1 or whether the separate letting occurred because the bridge became dangerous1 and would have cost too much to repair1 anyhow1 when ,i came first to know this particular part of the river in the early eighties1 there was nothing left of the bridge except a stump or two1 green with slime1 brown with rot1 showing just above water1 or intercepting weed--just that and a band of bottom a little higher than the river-bed above and below1 as if the made bottom which had carried the bridge still persisted4 ,even the stumps are long gone the way of all stumps1 and the made bed is only just traceable if you know where to find it4 ,but for all that1 after all these years1 this is the place in the river where trout are to be found feeding1 if they are found feeding anywhere2 and they feed in much the same way1 seeming secure1 yet really shy1 as the trout feed under or just below all the bridges on the river4 ,all bridge trout seem to be shy4 ,some bridges make shyer trout than others4 ,i knew one--a railway-bridge on that length--under which in four-and-twenty years ,i never got a trout1 or even a rise1 for all ,i tried persistently1 wet and dry1 until #aijh1 and then only because on that particular day a strong ruffle of wind blew up the arch and made good big waves4 ,then ,i got a brace to a floating ,tup's ,indispensable1 and lost another fish4 ,whether it is the holt into which to run at hint of danger1 or the insects which haunt the woodwork1 or the clear space of unweeded water in which to swim1 or what not1 bridges seem to have a special fascination for trout2 and if the fly 7preferably a small sedge7 can be delicately dropped over the fish as if it fell from the woodwork1 the chances of getting him are much increased4 ,trout seem specially watchful at bridges1 and1 if the water be not too fast1 will turn to take a fly which is aimed to hit them on the tail4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,mainly ,,tactical ,,of ,,the ,,deliberate ,,drag4 ,of all trials of the chalk-stream angler1 perhaps drag is the worst4 ,yet even drag may be made use of on occasion1 to add to the weight of the creel4 ,years back1 on the ,erlaubnitz in ,south ,germany1 ,i sat by a mill-head on a blazing and wellnigh hopeless ,september afternoon4 ,the water was low1 much of the head having been run off by the sawmill1 and such little current as there was confined itself almost entirely to the centre4 ,brown and dirty-looking weeds topped the surface along my side of the head4 ,suddenly ,i detected a tiny dimple in a little spot where1 among the weeds1 an eighteen-inch square of clean surface showed itself4 ,i despatched my fly--a ,landrail and ,hare's ,ear ,sedge on a ,no4 #c hook--and by good luck or good management it dropped neatly on the spot4 ,i waited4 ,three minutes passed4 ,nothing happened4 ,then ,i thought to recover my fly and drop it again in the hole1 but with rather less delicacy1 so as to attract attention to its fall4 ,but first ,i had to recover it4 ,i moved it gently towards the side of the hole1 but ,i could not prevent the effect of a drag on the surface4 ,yet ere the fly had moved three inches a good pound-and-a-half trout had it1 and1 after a game of pully-hauly in the weeds1 was duly brought to net4 ,this was a limestone stream1 and not a chalk stream4 ,but in ,august1 #aijh1 ,i was on my way through the meadows to the main ,itchen1 when in a much-weed-encumbered carrier ,i became aware of a good trout lying in1 and near the head of1 a little pool of open water three or four yards long at most1 and perhaps a third as wide4 ,my rod and cast were ready1 but no fly4 ,so ,i knotted on a good big sedge--,i think a ,no4 #c ,silver ,sedge4 ,the water was glassy smooth1 and the current would not have carried my fly the length of the open water in much under five minutes4 ,i was afraid to cast above the fish1 or to right or left of his head1 for ,i knew it would send him scuttling to weed4 ,i wanted to drop the fly just behind his eyes1 but ,i misjudged1 and it fell several inches short1 almost upon his tail4 ,i waited a moment2 the trout lay still1 but evidently excited4 ,then ,i remembered my ,german experience1 and began to draw the fly along the surface4 ,immediately the trout turned and slashed it1 and was soundly hooked4 ,candour compels me to admit that the gut was also smashed by a strike of unregulated violence2 but this is entirely beside the point1 for it in no sense detracts from the value of my illustration of the occasional serviceableness of the calculated drag in still waters1 even with the dry fly4 ,my friend ,m4 ,bougl acutely distinguishes drag of the kind here described as the drag of dplacement1 as compared with the drag of rtention1 which occurs on moving water4 ,on the ,pang at ,bradfield resides a blacksmith named ,holloway1 who is a first-rate angler1 and ,i have seen him practise the deliberate drag on fast water with the ,may-fly in a manner which in other hands would send every trout scuttling to cover1 but he did not put them down a bit4 ,he ties a ,may-fly--not a very pretty confection1 but admirably constructed for this purpose4 ,the hackle1 which is white1 instead of standing out more or less at right angles to the hook-shank1 is so tied as to lie almost flat upon it1 and as a result the fly leaves practically no wake when it is drawn over the fish1 and the movement1 which he practises assiduously1 far from scaring the fish1 appears to be actually attractive4 ,yet the ,pang fish are quite wary1 and liberties may not be taken with them with impunity4 ,in this case once more we have the drag of dplacement1 but it is hard to see why it should not be just as fatal to the angler's chances as the drag of rtention4 ,,in ,,the ,,glass ,,edge4 ,a more unpromising ,may day than that ,i now tell of it would be hard to conceive4 ,the wind--from the west1 with a bite of north in it--blew for the most part dead across stream with strong1 shuddering gusts1 so violent at times as to force the angler1 taken unawares1 two or three steps nearer to the water's edge1 and more than once nearly to precipitate him into the water between the sedgy tussocks which fringed one side of this length of ,upper ,itchen4 ,on the previous day there had been a sparse skirmishing line of dark olives on the water at #aj4ae1 covering the main advance at #aa4cj2 but to-day #aj4cj1 #aa1 #aa4cj1 noon1 and the intervening quarters1 chimed from the belfry1 without a fly showing on the water or in the air4 ,at noon the sun shone out for a few moments1 and made fitful reappearances at intervals till #a4cj4 ,strolling slowly and watchfully up the bank1 with an eye on the far side1 the angler came upon ,keeper ,humphrey in attendance on another angler1 and1 on his advice1 put up a ,red ,quill on a ,no4 #j hook1 for lack of one a size larger1 and1 leaving the other a couple of hundred yards below1 sat down to wait for the rise4 ,at length a little upwinged dun was seen in sail in the glass edge1 hugging the far bank as close as possible4 ,for a few yards it staggered down1 battered by the gale1 and then slid sideways among the flags under pressure of a stronger gust than usual1 and was lost to sight4 ,pitiably sparse the fly were1 and in half an hour not more than half a dozen came in sight4 ,all vanished disappointingly among the flags4 ,but at last the watcher was rewarded by seeing one disappear in the centre of a tiny widening ring1 which scarcely rippled out beyond the narrow glass edge4 ,in a moment distance was got by a trial cast a yard or two downstream1 and then the ,red ,quill dropped perkily a foot above the spot where the dun had disappeared1 and went swiftly down on the full current--so swiftly that the angler did not realize until a second too late that the same neb which had lain in wait for the dun had sucked in the ,red ,quill4 ,the strike was just too late1 and a pricked and badly scared trout dashed violently out into the stream4 ,in the next little bay another rising trout was located1 but the violence of the wind made it necessary to cast too tight a line in order to drop the fly in the glass edge1 with the result that a drag began to develop immediately1 putting the trout down4 ,a few yards higher a clump of trees made a sort of buffer of air1 and the conditions were a bit easier4 ,yet1 though the sun came out and showed the ,red ,quill gliding down the glass edge1 the rise of the next trout was such a delicately neat movement that the angler was once again almost taken unawares4 ,yet this time he fastened1 and his first fish of the day1 after a dumbfounded second's pause1 forged upstream with a rush1 tearing line from the protesting reel4 ,he was not1 however1 allowed to reach his holt among the weeds1 but was turned1 and netted out thirty yards or so downstream1 after a strenuous resistance4 ,the hook was on the extreme edge of his upper lip1 but1 fortunately1 had taken a beautifully firm hold4 ,the spring-balance recorded one pound fifteen ounces--rather a disappointment1 for his hogback and splendour of general condition suggested that he might1 though a short sixteen inches1 have topped two pounds4 ,a moment sufficed to knot on a fresh fly1 and the very first cast into the glass edge1 to a glide where a dimple betrayed a trout1 produced another rise2 and again the offer was accepted1 and an excellent fight put up4 ,when eventually netted out1 the fish proved to be one pound nine ounces1 and even handsomer and finer in condition than number one4 ,he was hooked exactly in the same way4 ,there was one more rise spotted1 the fish risen1 touched1 and seen in the clearness of the glass edge to flash some yards upstream under the far bank4 ,then the sun went in for a spell1 and all was over for the day4 ,the other angler had a brace--two pounds ten ounces and one pound odd--caught in the same way by floating the ,red ,quill in the glass edge4 ,this was one of those rare days when the dry fly can be fished into the bays under the opposite bank4 ,,of ,,the ,,cross-,,country ,,cast4 ,if questioned on their favourite mode of approaching a trout1 it is probable that nineteen out of every twenty chalk-stream anglers1 if not a larger proportion1 would plump for the right bank with the rod held over the water4 ,it is doubtless the easiest method4 ,it has various advantages not difficult to enumerate1 but it may be gravely doubted whether it is the most effective from the point of view of catching trout4 ,later under the caption 78,the ,bank of ,vantage07 it is shown--with what success the reader must judge--that in most states of the wind the left bank has1 contrary to general opinion 7other things1 of course1 being equal71 decided advantages over the right4 ,apart from states of the wind1 it must be apparent that1 where the horizontal cast is used1 and often where the cast is not strictly horizontal1 the left bank has the advantage over the right that the rod and line are less displayed1 and far less likely to alarm a wary fish under the angler's own bank than a rod held more or less over the stream2 and1 naturally1 it is only to a fish under the angler's own bank that the cross-country cast is made4 ,secondly1 there is the advantage that little of the line--possibly not all of the gut1 even--strikes the water4 ,it is enough if the drag and the recovery occur far enough below the fish not to disturb him2 but if the fly be the right pattern the drag is a matter of no consequence1 as the cross-country cast comes so lightly1 so naturally1 and with such concealment of its perils from the trout1 that as frequently as not he takes the fly at the first offer4 ,of course1 the vegetation on the bank may be such as to render it almost impossible to deliver this cast without being hung up1 but the angler should not be too ready to assume that this is so4 ,it is wonderful how1 with care1 a light hand1 and a little patience1 the line may be recovered1 and what risks may be taken with comparative impunity4 ,it is often astonishing to see how anglers who pay largely for their fishing rights1 own costly rods1 reels1 and lines1 and make long train journeys for their fishing1 will decline to tackle trout in difficult positions1 because it involves the possible loss of a cast or a fly--perhaps #as4 #b;d4 all told--with the odds long in favour of the loss being no more than a fly1 and perhaps a point4 ,i am ever for the adventure4 ,the certain smash does not always come off4 ,but after the meadows are cut1 and when the sedges are low1 it is often excellent sport to beat slowly up on either bank1 left or right1 keeping in either case well inland--especially so on the right bank--and flicking a grass-moth or a small sedge dry into every little eddy and bay1 and on to every likely spot under the bank1 with never more than three feet--or four feet at the outside--of gut on the water 7often not more than eighteen inches or a foot74 ,of course1 a rod which will cast a short line accurately is indispensable4 ,the fly lights like thistledown4 ,on such days1 if you work orthodoxly up your right bank1 casting a longish line upstream1 and covering the water with it1 you shall not hook one fish for three which you shall take with the cross-country cast4 ,then1 to recover it1 you must either draw it slowly over the edge where the danger lies1 or you must flick the line up so as to belly vertically away from you1 and pick the gut and fly cleanly off the water or the herbage4 ,and if occasionally one is hung up1 what does it matter8 ,if it be of service1 the angler is not denied such relief as the golfer freely avails himself of when the deadly bunker has him for its own4 ,,what ,,tussocks ,,are ,,for4 ,this is not a riddle4 ,it is a speculation which many anglers have probably indulged in4 ,some have considered them a providential arrangement for the protection of the business of the dealer in flies and tackle1 and verily they have their reasons4 ,at one time ,i was of that fold1 but of late years ,i have had glimpses of the other side of the shield1 and ,i am beginning to realize that while tussocks may be put along river-sides as a trial of the patience of some1 yet for others they are a means of providing an occasional trout1 and generally a good one1 on days when disappointment is king4 ,they are placed1 in other words1 for the trout to stand on the upstream side and the angler on the downstream side1 the latter substantially concealed from the former4 ,it is equally true that the former is also concealed from the latter2 but this is of little consequence if1 as is commonly the case1 the screen is not dense enough to hide the ring from the angler when the trout takes his fly4 ,but it may be said1 8,what is the use of the concealment if the inevitable result of casting over the tussock is to get hung up in it80 ,well1 it is not the inevitable result4 ,there are two ways of tackling a tussock4 ,one implies the use of a short rod1 or at least a rod capable of an accurate short cast4 ,it will not do to dib4 ,at the first glimpse of the rod-top over the tussock off goes your trout4 ,no2 the fly must be cast1 and cast so near the tussock that it drifts down to the fish just above the tussock before it is necessary to pick it up for the next cast with a forward flick4 ,the other method is to cast over the river-side of the drooping sedges of the tussock from such a distance that only the gut and a foot or two of the casting line go over the tussock1 and to let the belly of the line dip in the water between you and the tussock4 ,then1 if the fly be not taken1 the angler shall see his line coming back smoothly and at the pace of the stream over the tussock1 and finally the fly shall be lifted off the surface with no disturbance1 and be drawn by the current softly over the tussock1 and drop on the surface on his own side1 free for the next attempt4 ,obviously1 this latter cast is not well suited to the left bank unless the angler be left-handed1 and1 then1 it is not suited to the right bank1 unless he be ambidextrous4 ,ergo1 the rod which casts a short line with delicacy and accuracy is a desideratum for this business1 as for many others4 ,a heavy rod will seldom be found to do it4 ,when you have hooked your fish1 he may be depended on to carry your line at once free of the tussock4 ,i have never had an instance to the contrary1 and ,i have rather an affection for the tussock cast4 ,,of ,,the ,,alleged ,,march ,,brown4 ,everyone who reads much angling literature must have come across ingenuous arguments on the wonderful usefulness of the ,march ,brown even on waters1 such as the chalk streams1 where the natural is not found4 ,it is so4 ,i have found it so myself4 ,one #fth of ,april some years back ,i reached the ,wey1 to find that the ,grannom was well on a good week in advance of time1 and that ,i had one imitation1 and one only1 in my box4 ,to improve upon the humour of the situation1 ,i allowed--nay1 ,i forced--the first trout to whom ,i presented it to keep it4 ,but was ,i downhearted8 ,no6 ,i had some small floating ,march ,browns1 which1 with the whisks pinched off1 made quite satisfactory ,grannoms and saved the situation4 ,on other occasions ,i have used ,grannom and ,march ,brown indifferently to represent the grass-moths with which the meadows and banks were teeming1 and they each did the job excellently and were most attractive4 ,i have also used the ,march ,brown as a ,brown ,silver ,horns1 and to simulate other sedges1 and there is no doubt that it is an excellent fly1 and1 as generally tied1 quite a poor imitation of the natural ,march ,brown1 and quite a passable imitation of almost anything else4 ,,general ,,flies ,,and ,,fancy ,,flies4 ,the alleged ,march ,brown may be called a 8general fly0--i4e41 it is a more or less satisfactory imitation1 not merely of one1 but of many flies4 ,in the same way the ,red ,quill is a general fly1 covering not only a series of red spinners1 but also probably the whirling blue dun4 ,tup's ,indispensable used as a floater is an excellent rendering of many red spinners4 ,the sunk variety is an efficient rendering of many nymphs4 ,no4 #a ,whitchurch is1 ,i see1 included by ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford among fancy flies2 but ,i should venture to class it as 8general10 being an effective presentment of the yellow dun series of flies4 ,greenwell's ,glory1 again1 is a general fly1 and with its starling-winged variants it represents a series of olives1 from the blue-winged olive to the iron blue 7male74 ,it is hard to say what precisely are fancy flies1 unless one defines them as flies which are not known to represent definitely any insect or class of insects4 ,whether ,wickham's ,fancy to the eye of a trout looks the gorgeous golden thing which it does to mankind it is hard to say4 ,i have floated one on water over a mirror1 and the reflected image did not look golden at all1 but a pale1 dim green1 much like the colour seen through gold beaten so thin that it is almost transparent4 ,the ,pink ,wickham may seem to the trout to be a sedge with a greenish body4 ,the ,red ,tag may have its living prototype4 ,the ,soldier ,palmer is supposed to represent the soldier beetle4 ,but in most of these cases it is impossible to say what the artificial represents1 or may represent1 in life1 and its attraction is apt to be that of something bright and garish which appeals to curiosity or tyranny in the trout1 rather than to appetite4 ,indeed1 why a trout should take any artificial fly is a puzzle to me4 ,the very best are not really very like the real thing4 ,one thing is clear3 ,it is not form which appeals to the trout1 but colour and size4 ,i know a skilful angler who1 when he ties on a new split-winged floater1 rumples and breaks up the fibre of its wings with his fingers before using it4 ,this he does for the excellent reason that it pays4 ,his theory is that it lets the light through2 but form is entirely sacrificed4 ,it is a curious fact that1 though the ,test and ,itchen are 8by ordinar'0 clear1 yet double-dressed floaters can be successfully used on them1 which would do little or nothing on other streams1 of which the ,wandle occurs to me as an example4 ,if ,i had a day on the ,wandle1 ,i should take care to provide myself with single-winged patterns4 ,can it be that the clearness of the ,test and ,itchen is such that the fly looks distinct enough by reflected light1 while transmitted light is necessary to render the fly noticeable on such streams as the ,wandle8 ,in any case1 when visiting a strange river1 the angler should see if the fish will or will not stand double-dressed floaters1 if he has a fancy for that build of fly4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,considerations ,,moral1 ,,tactical1 ,,psychological1 ,,and ,,incidental ,,of ,,faith4 ,among the many uncertainties which attend the sport of fly fishing1 there is one thing that may be laid down as certain1 and that is that no consistent measure of success attends a lure1 whether wet1 dry1 or semi-submerged1 in which the angler has not faith2 and it may be shrewdly suspected that much of the ill-success which has attended the use of the wet fly upon chalk streams in the past is due to lack of confidence on the part of the angler4 ,it has been laid down so positively by the high-priests of the dry fly that the wet fly has no chance compared with it--at any rate1 on smooth water--and it has been so freely stated that crack wet-fly anglers come down to the chalk streams confident in their powers to make an exhibition of chalk-stream fish1 only to retire defeated and converted1 that it is little wonder that the chalk-stream angler who tries the wet fly does it half-heartedly2 and it is probable that the ,north-,country man coming to practise his art upon ,south-,country streams1 and accustomed to catch his trout in considerable numbers1 soon becomes disheartened by failure to do the like on rivers where two or three brace is a good bag4 ,probably he casts a much shorter line than is advisable on chalk streams1 and so scares off or puts down his fish1 and discouragement and the sceptical attitude of his ,south-,country hosts and keepers knock him off his game before he has had time to adjust himself to the 7to him7 novel conditions4 ,fishing a chalk stream with a wet fly is not quite like fishing a mountain stream or ,north-,country river1 and it is not a game to be learnt in an hour or a day4 ,but if the angler will fix his mind firmly on the fact that the wet fly was for centuries the only method in use on chalk streams1 and that it brought excellent baskets to good anglers in the past1 he may set to work with confidence that in the right conditions the wet fly will kill1 and kill well1 at this day1 and he may set himself with equal confidence to find out for himself how it is done4 ,and let him not be disturbed by the fact that there are days or hours when it has not a chance against the dry fly2 for there are days and hours when the dry fly has not a chance against it1 and there are other occasions when the trout will take either with approximately equal freedom4 ,simultaneously with my own experiments recorded in this volume1 ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford was engaged in establishing and proving his latest series of patterns1 in which he endeavours to approximate more closely than ever before to the coloration and attitude of the natural insects1 especially in his series of spinners4 ,in an article over the signature 8,detached ,badger10 which appeared in the ,field of ,october #bb1 #aijd1 ,mr4 ,halford was at some pains to prove that these spinners must be taken floating2 but the feature of these patterns is that they do not1 like the old patterns1 sit cocked upon the surface1 lifted half-hackle-high above it1 but1 being sparsely dressed1 lie low on the water1 practically flush with the surface1 and thus achieve a closer approximation to the spent natural insect than did the old patterns4 ,this1 as much as the more exact coloration1 may account for the success of these patterns4 ,and1 after all1 a fly that is flush with the water is perilously close to the edge of wet4 ,tup's ,indispensable fished as a spinner in the evening rise will often kill better semi-submerged and flush with the surface than thoroughly dried and oiled4 ,it usually serves me well1 and ,i have accordingly scarcely tried ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford's new patterns1 but when ,i have done so it has been wet that they have been taken1 and not dry4 ,i mentioned a few pages back that another ,itchen angler once fished the whole of a season--it may have been two--with the ,red ,quill in various shades and sizes1 and with differences introduced by the presence or omission of tinsel tags1 and he achieved a success with that one pattern or type quite as great as he enjoyed when he allowed himself the full range of the hundred best and some others4 ,clearly1 he and 8,detached ,badger0 have had faith--the faith which1 if it does not move mountains1 will at least move trout4 ,and the angler who takes his courage in both hands and experiments boldly with the wet fly fished upstream to his trout1 or into the place where his trout should be1 will find his faith1 as mine has been1 not without its reward4 ,,of ,,the ,,bank ,,of ,,vantage4 ,in looking back on a day's fly fishing1 one can realize how much has depended upon the correct selection of the bank to fish from1 and an examination of some of the more important of the general considerations governing choice may not be amiss4 ,special conditions1 such as height of banks1 the trees and bushes thereon1 and the accessibility of the water therefrom1 may force upon us deviations from what our judgment would otherwise dictate1 and it is impossible to dogmatize about these4 ,there are also cases where the winding character of the stream presents such a constant variety of conditions that it is impossible to say that at the moment of selection one bank is more worthy of choice than the other4 ,but1 subject to such special conditions1 there are a few general principles which it is well to bear in mind in considering from which side we shall direct our attack4 ,the first of these is to avoid such a position as will throw the shadow of angler or rod over the fish4 ,this is an obvious consideration1 and one that is easy of application4 ,but it does not necessarily follow that1 because the sun will throw one's shadow--even a long or formidable shadow--on to the stream from1 say1 the right bank1 one must necessarily adopt the other4 ,it may be that the shadow will be straight across or even behind the angler1 or1 at any rate1 in such a position as1 for instance1 not to interfere with his casting upstream1 or upstream and across1 and the river bottom may not be so bare that the fall of his shadow will send the trout scurrying upstream to disturb and put down the feeding fish above4 ,in narrow streams1 however1 the effect of shadow in bolting fish upstream is necessarily far more pronounced than in streams of moderate width--say twelve to twenty yards4 ,in like manner1 the narrow stream should not1 if possible1 even with a favouring upstream breeze1 be fished from the right bank1 which necessitates holding the rod and waving line and fly over the water1 or one may see one's hopes laid low for half an hour or more1 and a good stretch spoiled by the bolting of fish which1 approached from the other bank by a more or less 8cross-country cast10 with the rod held low to the right1 might have been brought to basket or turned downstream4 ,probably1 however1 the most generally governing consideration is the direction of the wind in relation to the general trend of the stream4 ,perhaps the majority of fly-fishermen1 if asked to choose a bank with an upstream or downstream wind1 would choose the right without hesitation4 ,but there may be a good deal to be said for the other side1 apart even from the sun and the narrowness of the stream4 ,for instance1 with an upstream wind and a fairly wide river1 especially if it be swift1 the angler on the right bank is practically confined to his own bank and midstream fishing4 ,if he casts for the opposite bank1 he finds it extremely difficult to be accurate1 and a drag which inevitably puts the fish down is almost certain to be set up4 ,on the left bank1 however1 not only can he approach the left bankers more closely than he dare approach the right bankers when fishing on the right bank1 not only can he tackle the midstream fish equally well1 but he can cut under and against the wind and get across to the opposite bank far more accurately from the left bank than from the right1 where the wind follows his hand4 ,take next the case of a downstream wind4 ,here the angler will want to consider what he has to do4 ,does he wish to fish his own bank or the opposite bank1 or both8 ,casting from the right bank1 he can cut under the wind and get his fly over to the opposite bank far better than he could from the left2 but is it worth doing8 ,if he can float his fly for a reasonable distance without drag1 it may well be2 but if the current be so strong as to set up an almost immediate drag1 he may be practically confined to his own bank4 ,so he would be on the left side2 but whereas casting from the right bank he would be apt to find the point of his gut cast forced outwards and downwards by the wind1 and be constantly landing his line on the sedges or bank1 when casting from the other side his line would fall upon the water1 and the gut-point and fly be driven inwards so as to search the water quite close under the bank1 just like a natural fly4 ,moreover1 it would not be driven so far inward as it would be driven outward when cast from the opposite side1 for in dropping over the bank-edge the fly and gut-point would enter1 before the force of the cast is spent1 into that little cushion of calm to be found just under the bank1 and would generally straighten out in a manner to command admiration both from men and trout4 ,take next the case of an upstream wind slightly across from the right bank to the left4 ,here it is even more difficult for an angler on the right bank to fish his own bank than for an angler on the left bank1 while he has more command in cutting across to the far side from the left bank than from the right4 ,if1 on the other hand1 the wind be upstream and off the left bank1 by standing back a bit and using a short cross-country cast the angler may get his fly very neatly over most of the fish under his own bank1 and can cut across more easily than he could from the right bank4 ,take1 again1 the case of a wind downstream and across from the right bank to the left4 ,here again the angler on the left bank is in the superior position for negotiating his own bank1 casting almost straight into the wind1 and letting fly and point be deflected under his own bank4 ,on the right bank the angler would be apt to have his fly flung out towards midstream1 and the short cross-country cast would be apt to miscarry4 ,on the other hand1 if the wind be downstream and across from the left bank1 the advantage lies slightly with the right bank1 but it is nothing like so marked 7assuming1 as we have been doing from the first1 that the angler is right-handed7 as in the converse case4 ,on the whole1 therefore1 it will be seen that1 contrary to the generally received opinion1 unless the wind be fairly direct upstream or 7for fishing the opposite bank7 down1 the left bank is almost invariably the bank of vantage4 ,,of ,,courage ,,and ,,the ,,jeopardizing ,,of ,,tuppence ,,ha',,penny4 ,that1 my friends1 is almost the extreme price of a trout-fly4 ,some cost less4 ,yet how often shall you see an angler whose equipment for the taking of trout has run into pounds1 and whose railway fare and reckoning at his inn are substantial items of expenditure upon the same object1 throw away most sporting occasions for the attainment of his end because1 forsooth1 he is sure to be hung up or weeded or smashed or something equally delightful--and bang would go tuppence ha'penny6 ,i have no patience with this sort of thing4 ,the more hopeless the prospect of getting out a trout from an impossible place1 the more determined ,i am to try for him4 ,de l'audace1 encore de l'audace--toujours de l'audace6 ,in ,may1 #aiji1 just before the ,may-fly began1 ,i was by the river-side1 when ,i heard a loud smacking sound1 and1 peering through a willow-bush1 ,i saw a fine trout cruising on an eddy and sucking down flies with hearty enjoyment4 ,if ,i cast over him from behind the bush1 ,i should have to play him on a six-ounce rod with x x x gut between a thorn-bush which ,i could touch with my right hand and a willow ,i could touch with my left4 ,there were snags above and snags below4 ,did ,i hesitate8 ,only long enough to tie on a new ,crosbie ,alder1 then long enough for him to reach the top of his beat1 and then ,i dropped the fly behind him just before he turned4 ,he was the satisfactory side of four pounds1 and ,i got his successor next day out of the same place--three pounds six ounces4 ,a beautiful brace6 ,luck6 ,of course it was luck1 but ,i shouldn't have had it if ,i hadn't taken risks4 ,there was a ,kennet trout under a willow in ,may-fly time4 ,a weed-piled snag in the stream just below the droop of the willow made it impossible to get a fly over him by casting above the willow and floating down4 ,there was just one possible way--to make a slanting downward cut which might bring the fly down between branches in a sort of dip in the tree1 and drop it on the fish's nose4 ,i left two flies in the tree1 but ,i did the trick and got the fish4 ,he was only two pounds six ounces1 but ,i thought he was bigger4 ,still---- ,then there was a fish which lay just above a hatch-hole through which water ran into the meadows4 ,the inevitable thing for him to do when hooked was to bolt down the hatch-hole4 ,but somehow he didn't1 and ,i got him4 ,there was a pound-and-a-half trout taking tiny pale duns on the edge of a small pile of weeds collected against a broken bough of a tree1 into which he was sure to bolt when hooked4 ,but somehow he didn't1 and he was steered to the landing-net with a ,no4 #jjj dun on gossamer gut attached to his nose4 ,then there was that trout which ,i got over a barbed wire crossing the stream eight or ten yards away4 ,there are countless such instances--,i tell of some more under the head of 8,impossible ,places0--but there is one thing that may safely be deposed to1 and that is1 that there is no place so desperate that1 with luck and management1 you may not get a well-hooked trout out of it4 ,,of ,,impossible ,,places4 ,the habit of a lightly hooked trout1 of floundering on the surface1 is too well known to need enlarging on4 ,sometimes his antics will be varied by leaps into the air4 ,but is the tendency of a hard-held fish to go to weed or snag equally well realized8 ,yet from a consideration of these two established tendencies may not a highly unorthodox method of extricating a good fish from the impossible position be evolved8 ,what is the theory8 ,this3 ,let him think he is lightly hooked4 ,it was on the banks of the ,itchen that the first glimmerings of the idea suggested themselves4 ,a novice with the dry fly was walking disconsolate up the stream1 bemoaning himself that he could not find a rising fish4 ,coming up with a brother angler just about to settle down to a rising trout in some quick water1 he was invited to cast over it4 ,the fly covered the right spot1 and brought up his troutship1 who fastened1 and1 turning at once1 bolted at express speed downstream4 ,the novice1 unaccustomed to anything more formidable than ,devonshire brook trout1 disregarded his companion's advice1 8,run1 man1 run downstream for all you're worth60 and backed1 open-mouthed1 slowly upstream1 letting out line as freely as the reel 7a checkless one7 would let it go4 ,so long as the line put no check upon him the trout ploughed downstream close to the surface1 but the moment the reel was empty and he felt the check he was deep in a weed-bed4 ,he stayed there till the angler had reeled up and put on another fly4 ,the checked fish goes to weed4 ,that was the first lesson4 ,the second was in this wise3 ,on a ,september morning a good many years back1 a brace of trout were rising1 a yard or so apart1 above a tree which overhung the same water on the side where the angler stood knee-deep in a swampy reed-bed4 ,it was possible to reach them if1 holding by his left hand to a bough1 and resting one foot on a root while dangling the other in the water1 he hung over the river at an angle of forty-five degrees1 and threw his line underhand up the stream4 ,but how if he hooked his fish8 ,there was a bank of weeds1 dense and long1 a yard or two above4 ,well1 he must chance it4 ,the likelihood of losing the fish seemed overwhelming1 the chance of killing him slight2 for the position was so awkward that1 in order to get back to terra firma1 there was nothing for it but to tuck the rod under the arm and trust to chance while recovering equilibrium and a footing4 ,yet the angler got both these fish4 ,situated as he was he could put no pressure on them2 he could not even keep the line taut4 ,but each of the fish when hooked came floundering and splattering unresistingly downstream1 trying to throw out the stinging insect that adhered to his jaw4 ,by the time the angler was prepared to deal with him the fish was in open water and was easily played4 ,result1 a brace of one and a quarter pounders and the second lesson4 ,the unchecked fish flounders on the surface4 ,what these two lessons have been worth to the angler it would be tedious to relate1 but one or two instances may illustrate4 ,there was that fish--one and three-quarter pounds he proved--rising on the far side of a dense bank of weeds in a channel two feet wide4 ,he had to be approached with reverence on one's face1 and from twenty feet out in the meadow4 ,he took the ,pink ,wickham at the first time of asking1 and the angler1 having fastened1 dropped his rod-point instantly4 ,the fish with a startled plunge rushed up the channel and out into the open water1 and began to flounder4 ,before he knew where he was the angler turned him1 brought him down the right side of the dangerous weed-bank1 and duly netted him out4 ,then1 again1 there was that black fish between two pollard willows on the ,darenth4 ,he was rising eighteen inches out from the bank4 ,the willows were two yards apart1 and their roots formed a mass of snags below him1 while just downstream of them was a plank bridge a foot above the river4 ,here again it was a case of kneeling far out in the meadow and dropping the ,yellow ,dun exactly over the nose of the fish4 ,he came with the most confiding simplicity4 ,had he been checked he would have been in the snags before one could say 8,knife10 but the angler1 mindful of his lesson1 held him not4 ,so it befell that he rushed out into midstream and leapt four several times1 much as does a pricked fish that is not hooked at all4 ,but ere he could do more the angler was on terms with him1 and held him out from the bank1 up from the bottom1 and away from the plank bridge1 till the landing-net received his one pound six ounces4 ,finally1 let the tale be told of a trout of the ,kennet that had his holt in a corner of a little bay1 whence a willow-bush had fallen into the river1 leaving on the bank side a tangle of broken roots1 in the river to the right1 some three yards off1 the half-submerged willow1 while above and below were heavy patches of long swaying weed4 ,it was an ideal place for a trout to feed in--and to break away4 ,the water came into the bay in a little defined channel between weeds1 and in this a foot below the entry a sizable neb was showing at intervals4 ,a small ,green ,champion ,may dropped exactly in the channel1 and trotted down the prescribed distance and disappeared4 ,again the tactics of the loosened line1 again the hooked fish rushed out from his almost impregnable holt into the open1 and was presently netted out by the triumphant angler--a handsome and1 he thinks1 a not ill-deserved three pounds ten ounces4 ,a week later the same tactics produced another fish of two pounds eleven ounces from the same hole4 ,,of ,,the ,,use ,,of ,,the ,,landing-,,net4 ,there is a common superstition among anglers that the primary use of a landing-net is to land fish4 ,let us rather say that the use of a landing-net1 rightly understood1 is to assist in the capture of fish4 ,not to catch fish1 for the catching of fish in the landing-net is mere poacher's work1 but to aid in the catching4 ,some anglers tell you you must never show your net to a fish until ready for netting4 ,but why not1 if it will help you to kill him8 ,there are many more or less desperate cases where the net may be of the profoundest service long before it is called to operate at the final ceremony of dipping out4 ,i will give one or two examples in an ascending scale of complexity4 ,firstly1 a new use for the handle4 ,under the left bank of a ,south-,country chalk stream a trout is taking every dun that goes down alongside the cluster of cut weed under which he shelters4 ,the angler's ,gold-ribbed ,hare's ,ear lighting delicately a foot above1 with the gut resting on the weed1 is accepted and carried straight down into the weed-bed below4 ,the angler reels up tight over the fish1 but fails to move him4 ,ah1 there is the long-handled landing-net6 ,a few judiciously-placed prods with the butt bring him plunging stupidly out1 and he is bustled down into open water and promptly dipped out with the other end4 ,secondly1 the use of the mesh4 ,scene3 ,a hooked fish racing downstream towards a dense weed-bed on the angler's side4 ,the angler offers the net1 and the fish sheers off into midstream1 and is towed past the dangerous obstruction4 ,very simple examples these4 ,the third and next is more complex4 ,scene3 ,a hatch-hole which lets water from the same stream into a carrier in the water-meadows4 ,camp-sheathing on both sides of the hatch1 supported by three successive crossbars from four feet to eight feet long as the sides diverge4 ,under the middle bar lies a good trout1 very evidently feeding4 ,problem1 how to get him4 ,it is impossible to cast underneath the crossbars4 ,one can only cast over them1 and trust to luck and judgment to get the fish out if one hooks him4 ,if he runs downstream the line is doubled over the crossbar and a break is assured4 ,but how is he to be prevented8 ,the angler knows that under the apron of the hatch there is a big hole1 and he sets to work with confidence4 ,the fly is dropped from below1 just over the third or shortest bar4 ,the drag of the oiled silk line brings it back till it passes over the third bar1 and drops softly on the water with a foot or two to float before it can drag4 ,presently it is taken1 and the hooked fish has turned to bolt down the carrier4 ,but there the angler is ready4 ,landing-net in hand1 he gesticulates wildly at the advancing fish1 which bolts upstream again and buries itself in the hole under the apron4 ,softly the rod is passed under the second and lowest crossbars1 then the point is brought down to the water's edge1 and with a steady strain and a jarring tap on the butt of the rod the trout is brought down out of his fastness and killed in due course4 ,lastly1 another example of a similar method4 ,imagine a strong stream some three yards wide and one hundred yards or so long1 running down from a similar hatch to a big cross-dyke reaching out on both sides4 ,the angler is on the right bank1 and the current turns to the left on reaching the dyke4 ,the water for the latter half of the carrier is too deep for wading4 ,in the broad gravel shallow at the tail of the patch a big two-pounder is lying4 ,the angler has already been run by a much smaller fish down to the verge of the carrier1 where the stream turns off1 and only netted his trout just in time4 ,for various reasons the other bank is unsuitable to fish from4 ,to begin with1 the big trout is not accessible from that side4 ,even from the left bank it is difficult to cast over him1 but presently our artist with the landing-net gives the appropriate response to the dimpling rise with which he takes the ,ginger ,quill1 and a good sound working connection is established4 ,for a moment the angler does not put a pull on him1 and he moves out into the strong water1 shaking his head to get rid of that objectionable insect that has fastened in his palate4 ,the angler rapidly winds in line1 and begins to hold him firmly4 ,his aim is to keep him tiring himself in the strong water--not to drive him up under the apron 7it is unnecessary to run that risk now71 but to keep him from running down4 ,the stream is narrow enough to enable the angler1 by dipping his rod-point to right or left1 to turn the fish from every upward rush to such a holt1 but in a few moments comes the downward rush4 ,now for the landing-net4 ,in an instant the fish has turned and is back facing the strong water1 and engaged in fighting to get up into the shelter of the hatch4 ,but again and again he is turned and brought down to the edge of the gravel shelf where the stream is strongest1 when a hint from the landing-net sends him up again straining with all his force against both stream and line4 ,presently1 tiring of the game1 and failing in his efforts to rub out the hook against the camp-sheathing1 he turns and bolts downstream with such suddenness as to evade the threatening net1 and is gone forty yards before the angler is level with him4 ,then again a threat of the net turns him1 and he makes a dash for a weed-bed some ten yards or so above4 ,from this he has to be turned down1 and his downward rush stopped with the net as before4 ,from this point the fight resolves itself into a series of downstream rushes1 alternating with much briefer trips upstream1 terminated by the necessity in each case for pulling the trout down out of the weed-bed he is bolting for4 ,at last1 at the very bottom of the straight1 on the edge of the dyke1 the fish1 not yet half beaten1 has to be dragged willy-nilly into the landing-net1 or else he must escape down the dyke which streams away on the far side4 ,finally1 and in conclusion1 one more example4 ,the locus in quo is a piece of fast water some eight or ten yards long1 a sort of tumbling-bay1 from which the water escapes at racing pace through a culvert twelve or fourteen feet long1 which passes under a farm road1 thence along some two hundred yards of narrow weedy carrier to an irrigation hatch4 ,in the tumbling-bay are three or four fine fish1 one of them something over two pounds4 ,all are feeding on something under water1 probably nymphs4 ,a dry fly would drag at once4 ,a double-hooked ,greenwell's ,glory1 as used on ,north-,country rivers1 might do the trick4 ,but the hooked fish will to a certainty bolt down the culvert1 and then it will be a case of smash at once1 or weeding with a long line1 and the impossible task of bringing the fish up the racing stream into the tumbling-bay again1 or of passing the ten-foot rod through a twelve-foot culvert4 ,happy thought6 there on the bank is a plank that has been floated down the stream above1 there is some string1 and there is the watcher to lend a hand4 ,he receives the landing-net1 and goes below some fifteen yards or so4 ,presently the fly drops well soaked on the water1 and swings over the best of the trout1 which the next minute has raced down and through the culvert1 tearing out line until--yes1 until the menacing net in the hands of the watcher sends him securely to weed4 ,now for the plank4 ,a minute serves to tie on the rod and to send the plank floating down through the culvert4 ,the watcher is ready on the other side with the landing-net1 and draws the plank to the side4 ,the rod is released1 and soon the angler stands over the fish with a short line4 ,now for the net again4 ,a few well-directed prods with the butt brings up the fish1 who bolts for the culvert4 ,but the net is before him on the far side1 and he gets back into the tumbling-bay4 ,guiding the line with the butt1 a pull is got on him which soon brings him down again below the culvert4 ,the only remaining dangers are the weeds and the hatch-hole at the far end4 ,from this last the net is again ready to keep him1 and the great battle ends as every such battle should4 ,,of ,,the ,,weeding ,,trout4 ,it has been shown how it was frequently possible to extract a big trout from an apparently impossible fastness by a tactical trick4 ,every angler knows that a trout who is1 or conceives himself to be1 lightly hooked will thrash about upon the surface in his effort to dislodge the fly1 very often with success1 though not always2 for occasionally the hook will have a small but sufficient hold in some inaccessible place1 such as the corner of the jaw1 and all is well with the angler4 ,it is by playing upon this idiosyncrasy and slackening on a fish immediately after it is hooked that the trout may frequently be induced to run from an impenetrable holt into the open in order to kick himself free from the surface4 ,the same idiosyncrasy may be worked upon with a weeding fish1 with gratifying results4 ,if the angler hooks a fish which turns and bolts downstream below him1 he will note that the fish will not go to weed until he is held4 ,the moment he is held he will whip into the first available weed-bed4 ,that is the first step in our argument4 ,the next is this3 ,the harder he is held the more frightened he becomes1 and the deeper and the more desperately he will burrow in the weeds4 ,but one day it occurred to me to try upon the trout that has got to weed the tactics of inducing him to believe himself lightly hooked4 ,to let him go altogether for a time till he recovered his nerve and came out was an old and often unsuccessful device4 ,to hand-line him was to put a much harder pull upon him than could be put on with a rod1 and though it sometimes worked1 it was by no means always successful4 ,for the new method1 therefore1 it was necessary to maintain a light pull upon the fish1 but so light that the rod-top gave to every movement1 leaving the fish almost as free as if he were loose1 but with just the difference that there was enough strain to keep him beating1 and enough to provide a fulcrum for him to beat from4 ,the experiment was brilliantly successful4 ,on the first occasion on which it was tried1 three trout 7all over two pounds7 were hooked in a weedy portion of the ,itchen upon the lightest tackle and a delicate rod4 ,each went to weed4 ,the angler held his hand high 7for the rod was but nine feet71 and kept the very lightest strain1 with the result that the fish began to beat among the weeds as he would on the surface1 and in a few moments had lashed the weeds aside and kicked himself free of them1 and was on top4 ,once there he was resolutely hauled downstream and bustled into the net4 ,this method has been worth many a good fish since that day2 indeed1 given a fairly soundly hooked fish1 there have been no failures4 ,of course1 nothing will save a fish so lightly hooked that the first touch of weed or obstruction releases him4 ,in applying this method1 the light rod1 which has come to be so common1 has an advantage over the big1 heavy1 and clumsy weapon so frequently in the hands of dry-fly men in the recent past4 ,this is indeed a notable instance of the superiority of the suaviter in modo over the fortiter in re4 ,,of ,,the ,,light ,,rod ,,on ,,chalk ,,streams4 ,in the catalog 7,i quote the word in the ,american spelling7 of the house of ,william ,mills and ,son of ,new ,york there is a portrait of ,mr4 ,humphrey ,priddis 7whose signature 8,dabchick0 at the foot of ,itchen reports is familiar to all readers of the ,field7 holding up a two and one-eighth pound trout which he had just killed on a two and one-eighth ounce ,leonard rod1 the property of young ,mr4 ,mills1 a son of that house4 ,i was down on the ,itchen the afternoon on which that feat was done4 ,i saw the rod1 the fish1 and the captor1 and the place was pointed out to me4 ,the water was full of dense masses of waving weeds1 and in accomplishing the capture of such a fish--a large one for the water--on such a rod there is no doubt that the angler executed a feat of which he had every right to be proud4 ,he declared himself amazed at the power of the rod1 and that he could throw three-and-twenty yards with it4 ,young ,mr4 ,mills was fishing with a nine-foot rod weighing five ounces1 a delightful tool capable of casting a heavy tapered ,halford line with wonderful command4 ,i had the privilege of trying it1 and ,i promptly acquired its duplicate1 in addition to the ten-footer of the same make which ,i already possessed and had used the previous season4 ,i am not going to reargue here the long controversy of light rod versus the old-style ounce-to-the-foot weapon4 ,the light rod has won its place1 and has come to stay4 ,those who have tried it fairly are convinced that it will answer all necessary calls for casting1 that it is fully equal to butting and killing large trout1 and that it adds a daintiness to the art of fly fishing which the old-time anglers of the heavy rod were hardly conscious it lacked4 ,but ,i do want to press three points in its favour beyond those enumerated3 7#a7 ,it casts a delightful short line1 and ,i confess to fishing consistently with the shortest line ,i dare use1 often with most of that in the country2 7#b7 it can be fished steadily all day1 wet or dry1 without tiring the hand--what a change from those terrible wrist-breaking1 hand-paralyzing1 blister-producing flails of the eighties and nineties6 and 7#c7 it enables one to play light with unequalled sensitiveness4 ,when ,i was a boy at ,winchester1 old ,john ,hammond had the length commonly known nowadays as ,chalkley's1 and ,i well remember the rods which old ,john used to turn out for fishing the ,itchen4 ,they were soft and floppy to an extent which would nowadays lead to their immediate rejection2 but ,i have seen the maker with one of them steer a good fish1 hooked under the opposite bank1 by sheer handling1 over dense weed1 into the waiting landing-net4 ,and remembering this1 and remembering how a fish which goes to weed can1 if lightly handled from the first1 be forced1 by play on his idiosyncrasy1 to beat himself free and up to the surface1 ,i am inclined to think that the modern angler is far too much inclined to use force in handling a hooked fish1 and that a rod which achieves--as the light split canes of the highest class do--a combination of steely quickness and casting power with something of the sensitive delicacy of the wood rods of old ,john ,hammond is the equipment to have in a tussle with a big fish on fine tackle4 ,to kill a brace of trout one of over four pounds and the other three pounds six ounces on x x x gut in deep weedy and snag-infested water between two bushes which ,i could touch with either hand1 and which prevented movement up or down stream1 is a feat which ,i am sure my old-time heavy rods could have done no better than did my six-ounce ten-footer in #aiji4 ,force was no good in such a place1 and force was never used until each trout had been sufficiently bewildered and fatigued by beating in vain against the nothing which restrained him to be kept more or less under the rod's point till ready for the net4 ,,of ,,wet-,,fly ,,casting4 ,the use of rods which carry a heavy reel-line is so general on chalk streams that probably the easy drying of the fly and cast is taken as a matter of course1 and it is little recognized how much is due to the weight of the line driving the fly rapidly through the air4 ,if the angler were devoting himself to wet-fly fishing on a rough river1 he would avoid such a casting line1 and if he means to fish a chalk stream wet-fly only1 he would do the same4 ,but he would need to be able to propel his fly and line upstream against the wind1 and to cast a fairly long line not infrequently1 so that a line with more weight in it than would be required for a rough river would be essential on a chalk stream4 ,but if1 as is the wiser course1 the angler proposes to fish either wet or dry1 as occasion demands1 his equipment must be still more of a compromise4 ,he must use a rod which will carry a line that will dry the fly with sufficient speed1 but preferably not a line of the heaviest class2 and he must trust to the make of his flies1 and to the soaking they get through trailing in the water before the cast1 to get them to go under on lighting4 ,the knack can be acquired without difficulty1 but if the dry-fly habit has become inveterate he will need to be continually watching himself when he desires to fish wet4 ,the line should be flicked as little as possible1 and the angler should try 7generally speaking1 but not always--see chapter on ,nerves7 to float the gut while letting the fly go under4 ,then he secures the double advantage of not lining his trout and of getting an indication from the movement of the gut should the fly be taken without his otherwise detecting it4 ,the fly1 being once delivered1 may be allowed to come down with the stream precisely like a dry fly except for its being under water2 but it can be recovered sooner and with less disturbance of the surface1 because the fly is drawn under and not along the top of the water4 ,the withdrawal should1 however1 be as gentle as possible1 in order to retain as much moisture as can be in the fly to sink it at the next cast4 ,if there be enough wind to raise waves1 or even a strong ruffle1 this is of less consequence1 as the make of the fly should be such that it can only float1 if at all1 while quite dry on perfectly smooth water4 ,it is in general no use to put up the ordinary dry flies to fish wet4 ,,chapter ,x ,,frankly ,,irrelevant ,a ,,dry-,,fly ,,memory4 ,in the ,test ,valley a good many years ago the coarse herbage lay drying in the water-meadows in the heavy swathes in which it had fallen to the scythe1 but all along the boggy edges of the streams and carriers a tall screen had been left standing shoulder-high1 concealing the angler from the rising fish1 but compelling him1 unfortunately1 to stand and to fish overhand instead of keeping low and switching a horizontal line to his quarry4 ,during the afternoon a chilly wind from the north-west had supervened upon the blazing heat that for a week past had conjured such alluring visions of the evening rise to end each ,july day4 ,the sky was overcast1 and a troubled sun watched sulkily from the far side of the valley1 through dun rifts in the clouds1 the approach of two rods to the river-side4 ,it was almost too early to begin4 ,scarce a fly was in the air1 and only one sign of any promise gave any hint of possible success--the horses in the meadow opposite1 driven to madness by the ,hampshire flies1 were charging and careering wildly about their pasture1 heels half the time in air4 ,just a cast above the bottom boundary was a run which promised a moving fish when the trout began to move1 and half an hour's wait in these exquisite meadows was time well spent1 if only in observing the splendid profusion of life in this wonderful valley4 ,the tender bloom of the meadowsweet was at its most perfect1 great wild purple orchids put up among the boggy tussocks1 while the lush richness of the water-side herbage baffled description4 ,from some meadow near came the 8crek1 crek0 of the landrail--less common1 alas6 than of old--the note of the snipe1 the wailing cry of the pewit1 the 8coo0 of the turtle-dove1 were punctuated with the querulous gutturals of the moorhen1 shyly under cover in the sedges4 ,presently a small pale olive rose from the surface and came drifting down the wind1 then another and another1 escaping their water-enemies below only1 too often1 to be snapped up by the screeching swifts that found them out too soon4 ,then1 in the very neck of the run1 a fish put up1 and the serious business of the evening began4 ,the fly on the cast was a ,tup's ,indispensable1 then the latest invention of an ingenious ,west-,country angler1 and1 when the red spinner is up1 a very killing fly1 but the fish1 continuing to feed1 would none of him4 ,nor was the ,red ,quill to his liking1 but the first cast of a ,ginger ,quill on ,no4 #jj1 covering him correctly1 brought him up1 and he fastened4 ,for a second he hesitated1 then ripped the line from the shrieking reel in an upward rush1 leapt into the air1 and was off4 ,by this time the sun's lower limb was resting on the opposite hill1 and the wind should have dropped dead4 ,but still it came with a certain bite of chill down the valley from the northward4 ,yet1 in spite of cold1 the long1 fleshy forest fly vied with the mosquito in assaults upon the unprotected portions of the angler1 and moths and sedges began to creep out and flit from flower to flower4 ,two other fish putting up in the next hundred yards were missed1 and a small one was landed and returned4 ,then1 as dusk drew on1 the fly was changed for a large ,orange ,quill on a ,no4 #b hook4 ,a good fish was rising steadily1 though not rapidly1 in the next bend1 but the ,orange ,quill1 offered from perhaps too short a range1 set him down with great suddenness4 ,a shy fish6 ,so was the next found rising1 for he did not wait even the preliminary wave of the rod to cease from his impetuous and greedy feeding4 ,perhaps the necessary wading through the boggy margin to get near enough to the water for an effective cast sent over him a wave that put him down4 ,the next hundred yards provided no opportunity for the angler1 but at the end of them the sedgy screen ceased suddenly1 and it was possible to approach the shy quarry with a horizontal cast4 ,over a bank of weed trailing near the surface an under-water movement seemed to indicate a fish of some sort4 ,the fly1 an ,orange ,sedge on a ,no4 #b hook1 dropped lightly on the right spot1 with a line behind it slack enough to let it pass well over the fish before the inevitable drag set in4 ,up came a big black neb4 ,instinctively the line tightened1 but the fish was already hard in the weed1 and nothing could coax or force him out4 ,ten precious minutes wasted1 at a time when minutes were priceless1 in vain attempts to persuade him1 before the inevitable break was effected and a new fly tied on4 ,a few yards farther on a snag divided the current1 and a foot above it a good fish was taking merrily every fly that covered him4 ,he was not proof against the ,orange ,sedge1 and in a moment he was being led flapping down on the farther side of the snag4 ,nothing seemed to intervene between him and the landing-net1 when suddenly the rod straightened and he was gone4 ,a feel at the hook in the growing dark proved it to have broken at the bend4 ,with difficulty another was mounted1 but by this the rise had ceased1 and naught was left for the angler but to feel his boggy way back through the eerie meadows to his starting-point1 and thence to the village--disappointed to a certain extent1 but with the disappointment more than tempered by the amazing charm of this valley of valleys4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,ethics ,,of ,,the ,,wet ,,fly ,in dealing with this subject1 ,i am conscious that ,i start with a weight of opinion against me among the fishermen of chalk streams4 ,i have known some of them say in a shocked tone1 8,but that is wet-fly60 as if it were some high crime and misdemeanour to use a wet fly upon a chalk stream4 ,to make my peace with such ,i want to argue this question out1 and test and see what it is about the wet fly which has brought such discredit upon it among the best sportsmen in the world4 ,it is axiomatic with many that it is unsuccessful upon chalk streams4 ,that is not my opinion1 but in itself it is not an objection4 ,if it were unfairly successful it would be another story4 ,the object of fly fishing1 whether wet or dry1 is the catching of trout1 not anyhow1 but by means refined1 clean1 delicate1 artistic1 and sportsmanlike in the sense that they are fair to the quarry and fair to the brother angler4 ,there can be no doubt that the dry fly honestly fulfils all these conditions4 ,let us see where the wet fly fails4 ,it is said the wet-fly man's game is a duffer's game1 which needs neither knowledge nor any skill beyond enough to cast a long line downstream or across and down2 that it leads to a raking of the water1 often with two or three flies2 that it leads to the pricking and scaring of many fish1 to the catching of many undersized trout1 and to the undue disturbance of long stretches of water1 to the detriment of the nerves of the fish and the sport of other anglers4 ,all this ,i am quite willing to accept and to eliminate from the legitimate all wet-fly fishing which could come under this description4 ,what is left to the wet-fly angler8 ,i venture to say a mighty pretty1 delicate1 and delightful art which resembles dry-fly fishing in that the fly is cast upstream or across1 to individual fish1 or to places where it is reasonable to expect that a fish of suitable proportions may be found1 and differs from dry-fly fishing only in the amount of material used in the dressing of the fly1 in the force with which that fly is cast1 and in the extreme subtlety of the indications frequently attending the taking of the fly by the fish1 compared to which there is a painful obviousness in the taking of the dry fly4 ,add to this that it provides means for the circumventing of bulgers and feeders on larv1 that it furnishes sport on those numerous occasions when trout are in position and probably feeding under water without ever breaking the surface1 and generally widens the opportunities of sport for the man who cannot be always on the spot to seize the best opportunities afforded by a rise of trout to the floating fly4 ,is this method open to any of the objections attending the downstream raking we concur in condemning8 ,is it a duffer's game8 ,is it easier than dry-fly fishing8 ,try and see4 ,does it lead to the pricking and scaring of many fish which follow a dragging fly8 ,no4 ,does it unduly disturb long stretches of water to the detriment of the brother angler8 ,why1 it is as easy to spend an afternoon on a hundred yards as it is in the purest cult of the dry fly4 ,if the trout are feeding1 ,i for one fail to see why they may legitimately be fished for if they are taking a small proportion of their food on the surface1 but not if they are taking all1 or practically all1 of it underneath4 ,there is a sentence from ,francis ,francis quoted with approval by ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford1 which runs as follows3 8,the judicious and perfect application of dry1 wet1 and mid-water fly fishing stamps the finished fly-fisher with the hall-mark of efficiency40 ,nothing could be more just if one reads it with reference to all streams1 whether chalk streams or otherwise2 but to read it distributively so that only the dry fly may be used on chalk streams1 and only the wet fly on other streams1 seems an unnecessary renunciation of opportunity2 while to read it as meaning that only the dry fly may be used on chalk streams1 while wet or dry fly may be legitimately used on others1 carries its own condemnation in logic4 ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford1 with every desire to be absolutely fair1 has1 ,i think1 in ,chapter ,,ii4 of 8,dry-,fly ,fishing in ,theory and ,practice10 done more than any other man to discredit the wet fly on chalk streams1 by the implications1 first1 that the principle of the dry-fly method--viz41 the casting of the fly to a feeding fish in position--is not applicable to the wet-fly method1 and1 secondly1 that on the stillest days1 with the hottest sun and the clearest water1 the wet fly is utterly hopeless4 ,on both these points ,i respectfully join issue with him4 ,on all that his book contains on the positive side about the dry fly ,i am in practical agreement4 ,but if the reader considers the rods1 the lines1 and the flies1 that ,mr4 ,halford recommends1 he will see that they are utterly unsuited to wet-fly fishing1 and it would not be surprising that no success attends them when used for wet-fly work4 ,but if ,i am right--and ,i am--in asserting that1 given reasonably suitable gear1 the wet fly may be cast upstream in chalk streams to a feeding fish in position 7whether surface feeding or not is1 ,i submit1 irrelevant71 and that on its day--and there are many such in the season--it will kill fish alike in the hottest1 brightest1 and stillest weather1 and on days and in places and conditions where the dry fly is hopeless1 and also in the roughest of weather1 then ,i may claim that it is an art worthy to stand beside the art of the dry fly as a supplementary resource of the angler that is at once fair1 sportsmanlike1 and capable of adding immensely to his enjoyment1 his sport1 and his opportunities for using the highest skill1 not inferior in any sense 7except in the matter of the avoidance of drag7 to that exercised by the dry-fly expert4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,apologia ,having read through the foregoing pages1 ,i am 7indeed1 ,i could hardly fail to be7 conscious that ,i have written dogmatically1 that ,i have used the first person singular with some freedom--more freedom than ,i had supposed4 ,but ,i am not going to change it4 ,what ,i had to say1 stretched over a period of years1 has been too strong for me4 ,i wanted to elaborate a system1 and all ,i have done is to tell my personal experiences in search of a system4 ,if ,i have written positively1 ,i would not have it supposed that ,i claim to be a master of angling1 or that ,i do not incur by the water-side my full share--perhaps more than my full share--of mistakes1 tangles1 bungles1 disasters4 ,but1 for all that1 ,i claim to be entitled to speak positively of the things which ,i have tried and tested for myself and know of my own knowledge4 ,no man can really know either these same things or any other things by reading them in a book or by accepting them upon any authority1 whether it be that of ,mr4 ,f4 ,m4 ,halford or another4 ,nothing presents itself to any two minds in an identical light4 ,we all see the multicoloured facets of truth from a different angle4 ,no experience is the same to two diverse idiosyncrasies1 and the only help which the writing of a book of this kind can be to others is1 not in the laying down of rules1 not in the preaching or advocating of systems1 not in teaching that which the writer has beaten out by his own experience1 but in hints which start or help trains of observation or inquiry in the reader's mind1 so as to stimulate him to work out1 and prove1 by personal thought and experiment1 to make his own1 the conclusions which his own personality is capable of drawing from the test4 ,in this way only is progress possible4 ,in this1 and in doing something to assure that1 in the new learning and in the new systems which come along1 that which is of value in the systems of the past shall not be forgotten1 but shall be transmuted to the uses of the present and the future1 is all the justification ,i can plead for the foregoing pages4 ,in giving records of my own experience by the water-side rather than in laying down a system1 ,i am not asking others to do as ,i do because ,i say it1 or to accept anything from me4 ,i would have no weight allowed by any man to tradition or authority until it is proved by himself2 no man's words accepted as final because they are his2 everything questioned1 tested1 and brought to the dock of practical experience4 ,if ,i have ventured1 indirectly1 to preach at all1 the sum of my preaching is not a system1 a method1 but an attitude of mind--the importance of being earnest1 the power of faith1 the observant eye1 the unfettered judgment1 independence of tradition1 and1 above all1 the inquiring mind4 ,with these words ,i commit my pages to the judgment or kindness of my brother anglers with a cordial 8,,tight ,,lines40 ,,explicit4 ,,billing ,,and ,,sons1 ,,ltd41 ,,printers1 ,,guildford4 ---------------------------------------- -------------------------------- ,,transcriber',s ,,notes ,typos fixed2 non-standard spelling and dialect retained4 ,enclosed italics font in underscores4 ,enclosed blackletter font in equals4