his craft—exact imitation of nature.

Recalling a foregoing statement to the effect that the American fly-caster, in general, has not to any serious extent followed the theory of exact imitation of nature; moreover, in view of the fact that practically no artificial flies are to be had dressed in imitation of the native insects common to our trout waters, it should be obvious that the dry fly caster must continue to rely upon artificials of English pattern or manufacture. It is a fact, however, that it is possible, provided your fly book is passably well filled with various patterns, to approximate very closely the appearance of many of the natural insects you will see upon the water.

Furthermore, in view of this state of affairs, it would seem best to avoid at this time any lengthy reference to the entomology of the trout stream, as leading only to confusion worse confounded—there is an instant and imperative need of an authoritative American fly-fishing entomology and of a fairly comprehensive series of artificial flies, dry and wet, dressed in imitation of the native insects common to our streams and upon which our trout are known to feed; until these are available we must adapt the means at hand to the end desired. In this connection, however, it should be noted that it is not strictly necessary for success that the angler at all times use an exact copy of a natural fly—witness the wide employment of various fancy patterns both here and abroad, and the further fact that our native trout are still fortunately rather less discriminating in the matter of rising to the artificial fly than the brown trout of England.

The selection of the proper tackle for dry fly fishing is obviously dependent upon a thorough knowledge of the manner in which it is to be used. Possibly it is unnecessary to say that the dry fly caster invariably works upstream, casting, preferably, upstream and slightly across the current, and that between casts it is generally necessary to dry the fly by several false casts, that is, without allowing the fly to touch the water. To the fly-fisherman of any experience it should be very plain that a first-class fly-rod and a skilled wrist are somewhat essential. Moreover, the dry fly man works largely, although not exclusively, on the still pools and quiet reaches, where only the best of tackle, handled with a more than moderate degree of skill and care, can produce consistent results.

Furthermore, no little skill must be exercised by the angler in order properly to manipulate, or fish, the single "floater" when the cast has been made and the fly is upon the water, it must be allowed to float naturally downstream in the manner of the natural fly under like circumstances. All of which sounds perhaps not so very difficult, but, in practice, the operation really has complications of which the tyro little dreams. It is true that a dry fly possesses a certain degree of buoyancy, but if bunglingly cast and subsequently awkwardly manipulated, the fly is soon "drowned," drawn under water by the weight of a carelessly slack line or from some other cause really, as a rule, preventable by the careful and skilled rod-handler.

Indeed, the difficulties of clean-cut dry fly-casting are such that even an expert caster can do little with a poor equipment; the beginner, therefore, should be extremely careful in the selection of his tackle. The disappointments and difficulties of the game are quite numerous enough without starting in with the very serious handicap of a poorly adapted outfit.

CHAPTER II

The Fly Rod

It would seem that the tentative dry fly caster cannot too carefully consider the details of the rod which he will use in the pursuit of the sport. The majority of anglers cannot well afford a battery of fly-rods; moreover, there is no market for used fishing rods, as in the case of firearms, so that if the rod proves unsatisfactory it cannot be got rid of unless one practically gives it away. It is claimed that, in time, an angler will "grow to" any sort of rod, regardless of its unfitness to him personally or of inherent faultiness in some respect; possibly this is true. Patience is, indeed, a virtue possessed by many good fishermen, but, in this instance, it is safe to say that not one fly-caster in twenty can bring himself to the continued use of a rod from which he derives no pleasure and which actually handicaps him on the stream.

The demands of dry fly casting on the rod are exacting in the extreme. On a river where there is much dry fly water probably the rod does double the amount of work required of the wet fly rod; the need of continually drying the fly by false casting keeps the rod in almost constant action. If the rod is unsuitable in length, balance, or in some other detail of construction, this continual whipping in casting and drying the fly is anything but enjoyable. If the rod is really poorly constructed, of poor material, and thrown together rather than painstakingly fitted, a few hours of dry fly work will surely bring about its relegation to the scrap-heap—where, indeed, it belonged in the first place.

The selection of the rod for dry fly work, then, should be made with deliberation and based upon the best information obtainable. In this connection it may be noted that it is the fashion with a certain class of sportsmen to consider the purchase of a fly-rod which, relatively, may be termed an expensive one, simply a foolish waste of money and entirely a matter of "pretense and affectation." Usually this opinion is wholly the result of misinformation and lack of experience. No angler who ever had the pleasure of a day's fishing with a first-class fly-rod—provided, initially, he possessed sufficient skill and experience to thoroughly appreciate the revelation, for the action of such a rod is, indeed, a revelation to one accustomed to the use of an inferior article—ever willingly returned to the use of the makeshift rod with which perhaps he had theretofore been contented.

The purchaser of a shotgun is usually aware of the fact that beyond a certain limit, varying with guns by different makers, he is paying for finish pure and simple—not for practical shooting efficiency in the weapon. But in the case of the fly-rod this is not true—with due deference to the opinion of the man who holds otherwise, simply, I am sure, because he has yet to cast a fly with a genuine fly-rod. All this, of course, within reason; it should be manifest that a merely "highly ornate" rod spells increased cost without return in practical casting and fishing value. However, the gingerbread fly-rod is so rare that it may safely be disregarded as a factor in the present discussion—also, parenthetically, as a factor in the day's score on the trout stream.

Reducing the matter to the practical dollars-and-cents basis, it may be said in all truthfulness that up to thirty dollars, taking an average of fly-rods by different makers, every additional dollar spent on the rod inevitably means a commensurate increase in the rod's efficiency, serviceability, and all-round desirability. But while no experienced fly-caster would, I believe, take exception to the above, it still remains to be said that if economy is, indeed, an object—and that it is may usually be taken for granted—a very good rod, quite satisfactory in action, hang, and general construction, may be obtained for half the above amount plus some little discretion in its purchase. Wherefore, for the benefit of the sportsman who is willing to grant that only