Fishing with Floating Flies

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the fly with whatever skill he may command with the purpose of imitating the action and appearance of the natural fly floating down on the surface-success, then, is predicated wholly (apart from the question of the r

dissimilar forces upon fly and line. The natural dun coming down without restraint, of course, from line or leader, is affected only by the current whereon it floats; the artificial fly, attached to line and leader, several feet of which must often

water, the artificial fly will at once drag rapidly across or over the still place in an utterly unnatural manner.

natural downstream course of the fly is retarded. Again it often happens that unless the sportsman notes clearly the trend of the currents whereon fly and line will rest, he may cast a taut line over a place where the currents are actually moving in contrary directions, the fly may rest upon a "set-back" (a current moving upstre

y carefully the trend of the currents which may affect your line and fly. In other words, the best way to alleviate drag lies in the ounce of prevention which may be applied before the c

-which comes over it in an unusual way. A feeding trout, possibly rising from a fixed vantage point wherefrom it can easily see and capture the duns floating down on the surfac

ent may be, the angler should never begin to strip in the line until the fly is well started on its downstream journey. The seasoned wet fly-fisherman, upon his initial attempts at casting the dry fly, will doubtless find that he has an habitual tendency to rais

sary procedure, then, for the dry fly-caster is this: At the completion of the forward cast hold the rod absolutely motionless for a moment until the fly, floating down, has created more or less slack line, in accordance with the character of th

cast upon a still or slow place while the line rests upon swift water, drag will not set up until the slack line has passed downstream and begins to pull upon the fly. In the opposite instance, when the fly is on a swift run and the line in slow water, the cast being so made that the slack lies in the swifter current, the fly will float without drag until it has taken up the slack, when the line will retard it. How, when, and where drag will occur is not only a matter of the set and strength of the cur

ck upon itself and the fly settles down upon the surface at the end of a considerable loop of line and leader. The motion of the rod should be stopped only for an instant, and the rod should then be carried down to its usual position at the end of the forward cast, about parallel with the water. A variation of the above method of casting a slack line, one which the writer has found very useful at times, while essentially similar to the method described, differs s

s the average when using the sunken fly and a tight line fished downstream or partly down and across. That the average angler whose dry fly knowledge is confined wholly to a greater or lesser familiarity with the literature of the subject, seriously doubts his ability-or that of any man-to strike his fish successfully with a slac

entirely-even the natural fly is missed at times-the trout is generally well-fastened. Also, inasmuch as the dry fly is fished upstream, and, as a rule, the angler is below the rising fish, the direction of the strike is toward the fish and not away from it, as is frequently the case when casting the wet fly downstream. That the tendenc

as to size and color with regard to the natural ephemeridae common on the stream at the time; to cast the fly upstream, allowing it to come down after the manner of the natural insect, favoring the horizontal cast to insure, as far as may be, cockin

ter the manner of the wet fly fisherman: the angler who has been accustomed to fish upstream with the wet fly need not alter his general methods in the least, save as regards flo

asting diagonally up and across from either bank, in which manner it may happen that a great deal of the water may be most advantageously worked, the familiar fact that "keeping out of sight" is half the battle in trout-fishing must never be forgotten. This

h a short line it is easier to prevent drag because there is less line upon the water. On windy days when the ordinarily smooth reaches are choppy, and always when fishing the swifter, broken runs, a thirty, even a twenty-five-foot cast is ample, if you are fishing nearly upstream and take pains to swin

else, alarms the fish. You have only to pass your hand over a can of fingerling trout fresh from the hatchery to verify this and to appreciate the instinctive ala

generally a few fish to be found in this sort of fishing. But anything of the kind is strictly incompatible with properly fishing the dry fly. The wet fly man who takes up the dry fly method should understand at the outset

o feet to the right of the preceding one, beginning under your own bank (generally the left facing upstream) and working across the stream. Then move up slowly and proceed to cover the unfished water above in a similar manner. Pools should be fished in the same way-covered thoroughly f