Fishing with Floating Flies

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extremely favorable localities where the conditions closely approximate those of the British streams, stalking the fish is practically love's labor lost. However, large, quiet pools may be fished in this way if the angler selects the most propitio

enge, and my inability to get away from a place where I positively know a good trout is located has frequently resulted in my return with a pretty light creel. When casting over a pool, no matter how good, while fish

have a pretty fair idea of his size; if duly observant you can guess closely to what sort of natural fly the fish rose, everything is sure save the eventua

r when the fish are not feeding, that sometimes the trout roll up to or leap above the surface, is well known to the experienced stream fisherman. With this feature of the matter we are not here concerned; the habit has been variously accounted for by anglers and icthyologists but the

confined to the time of the latter's appearance strictly on the surface. Of the water-bred insects the Ephemeridae, called "duns" when in the sub-imago state, occupy the place of greatest importance in the entomology of

heir business of drawing sustenance from the muck and weeds of the stream-bed. This habit of the trout, when followed in shallow water, results in an occasional disturbance of the surface by the tails of the fish and is called "tailing" in the nomenclature of the English dry fly fisherman. In this connection it sh

ir in the first winged state (sub-imago) at which time, as noted, they are called duns. During the rise of the nymphs to the surface, when about to assume the dun state, they are often taken

s are thus hatching the fly may float for some little distance while ridding itself of the nymphal envelope and drying its wings for flight; a rise to the fly at this time is a true rise. It would seem, however, from very close observation of the water during a good many plentiful hatches of duns, that only an occasional insect, as compared with the great numbers hatching, remains upon the water for any appreciable

delicate wings and fly away. Some nymphs brought into the laboratory from a watering trough at Stanford University emerged one after the other from the aquarium with amazing quickness." This from an undoubted authority, with my own experience, comparatively short but to the same end, leads me

t to change to the winged state over winged insects in the stomachs of trout taken under natural conditions. Furthermore, I might quote Mr. Halford when, in discussing bulging trout, he says: "Fish,

l. But the theory does, indeed, explain some phases of dry fly fishing which otherwise are quite inexplicable; for instance, inability to induce a rise to the properly fished winged artificial when its corresponding natural is hatching and "apparent" rises to it are evidently common. It seems fai

s to the imago or "spinner"-the adult insect. The male spinners are subsequently upon the water in a spent or practically lifeless condition following the completion of the act of coition. The latter takes place over the stream to which the female spinner then descends to void her eggs. This, with some species, is done upon the surface, the fly floating

ubsequently when, as spinners, the female floats on the surface when voiding her eggs, and upon both males and females when spent. Before casting to a rising trout the angler should, as far as may b

his is done it will be necessary to wait for another rise, which may never come, or to cast haphazardly over the approximate place, which usual

s in mind-to avoid being seen by the fish, and to lessen the liabi

the fly will float down over the place where the fish rose. Moreover, if possible, avoid throwing

spot to which the trout is rising it may be the fish will wholly disregard it. Frequently I have cast to a rising fish and failed through difficulties of drag-and poor casting-to get the fly over the right place in the right way until possibly the fifteenth or twentieth cast, and in the meantime have seen the fish rise to the natural fly within six inches of the artificial. But when I have had the right f

nicky he is apt to become-certainly if the casting is not done with the utmost possible skill and unobtrusiveness-and eventually you may set him down to stay

hanked hooks and am of the opinion that for average dry fly fishing under American conditions, when fishing all the water, they are more successful than the orthodox patterns. This goes for the larger, deeper streams

fishing all the water for general results-and to put up an imitation of some one of the duns, olive, iron blue, whirling blue, and so on, dressed on a No. 12 or 14 hook which best approximate in size the n

911 I was out one day with a wet fly fisherman on one of the smaller Berkshire streams, upon which occasion we took eight trout from a small pool at the foot of a falls. The wet fly man, who, by the way, has played the game some thirty-five years during which

six good trout for my pains and a still greater respect for the great little dry fly-in addition to a good working "bulge" on the veteran. But below the pool I

y clear or low water when everything depends upon refining the tackle. Moreover, when fishing the water it is distinctly easier to keep a