Fishing with Floating Flies

st the Fl

former charm. Moreover, in dry fly fishing he will find a sport of such wide scope that, it is safe to say, he will never consider himself other than a beginner in the art. For the scientifically inclined sportsman-the man who chronically seeks

certainly, is not at all the state of mind with which to take up dry fly fishing, or, for that matter, angling of any sort. In fact, the dry fly man should be a student of causes as well as of effects, for the simple reason that only in comparatively rare instances

urther with a view to completeness and the emphasizing of certain points which even the old hand is prone to forget or possibly neglect through carelessness that the following bri

that its action approximates with all possible fidelity the action of the natural fly-the fly must float in the exact manner of the natural fly under like circumstances. Granting judicious selection of the fly in the first instance and

is underneath the rod with its handle to the right (in the case of the right-handed caster) is in my experience the only satisfactory and thoroughly efficient way. With the reel thus placed it is never necessary, when playing a fish, to turn the rod over so that the reel is above, as in the case when the ree

ustrating the proper grip of the rod shows the reel rigged underneath the rod with its handle to the left, and this is the method advised by th

s stated below, a cast which is used only when the horizontal cast is for any reason rendered difficult. Having assembled rod, reel, line, leader, and fly, using the knots shown in Chapter III., and

t; first the back cast which throws the line behind the caster, then the forward cast which returns it in the desired direction. Fifteen or twenty feet is enough line to use for the first practice casting. The right hand should

e rod; the casting power of the rod is brought into play in o

t tend to strike the rod. In the back cast throw the line up in order that there may be no possibility of its falling upon the water behind you-a high back cast is very essential. Lift the lin

it-since which time I have often seen in print the old, familiar warning to the novice stated above. However, it is now generally recognized by well-informed anglers that when casting any fair length of line there is a considerable loop of line and leader which straightens out only after the forward cast has been started; that, in fact,

beginning another back cast be careful to reel or strip in any slack line. The beginner should concentrate on casting accurately and delicately; ability to cover average fishing distances is soon gained without much conscious effort to that end. As f

a trout, or floating a dry fly. In brief, the caster should control the line, practically at all times, by holding it in his left hand, as it comes from the reel, stripping in the lin

is simply a matter of the length of the loop of line drawn out by the left hand between the reel and the first guide of the rod. When this loop for any reason becomes so long that there may be a possibil

ing other casting habits which may have become almost second nature. Further reference to this manner of manipulating the line-a most important factor in effective fly casting and fishing-will be found in connection with various

tal; in the latter the rod, in the back and forward casts, moves in a plane about parallel with the water. The reason for this preference is a very real and practical one although difficult to explain in detail

rise to the fly when floating down on its side-although I have seen a statement made to that effect; but with shy fish the probability of a rise to the correctly cocked and f

e horizontal cast cannot be used, owing to the conformation of the banks or other reasons, the caster in employing the overhead cast should direct his fly at an imaginary point in the air some

, the water. The back of the caster's hand should be turned toward the water, the fingers uppermost. The attempt to cast too long a line, o

ing, the latter being more frequently the case upon American streams. We come now to the second phase of dry fly casting, the subsequent manipulation of the fly in such a manner that it simulates as accurately as possible the action of the natural fly float

. As regards wet fly fishing any broad-minded angler willingly concedes that under certain conditions it is best to fish the stream up and under other conditions to fish down. The dry fly man, however, has

as always recognized a distinction between fishing downstream and casting downstream; the progress of the angler may be with the direction of the current-always most advantageous upon the swift and rocky mountain trout stream-while the actual casting may be cross-current, a very effective way of fishing the wet fly under normal con

nflicting currents in the stream which affect line and fly differently, and also passing over for the moment certain other points more or less inti

e a cast and allowed the fly to float down over the water he desired to cover. Unless the fly has become thoroughly soaked four or five false casts are enough. These should be made as ge

a shorter line and more casts, and endeavor not to whip the fly out of shape. After playing and landing a fish the fly will be thoroughly soaked and draggled. Ordinarily it is then best to put up a n