When you fish, begin at the head of a stream^
fishing the side nearest to you first, and then
casting to the opposite side* Let your flies
float gently down the water, i?orking them
gradually towards you, and making a fresh cast
every two or three yards you fish- We di«*
tinctly recommend frequent casting. A fish
generally takes the fly immediately it has
touched the water — provided always it be
delicately and lightly flung — and the quick
repetition of casting whisks the water out of
your flies and line, and consequently keeps
them drier and lighter than if they were left to
* float a longer time in the water. You should
not, except in a strong wind, allow any of your
reel-line to be on the water ; your casting-line
alone should be on the water, and then only
just so much of it as will allow you to see dis-
tinctly on the surface the drop-fly that is near*-
est to you. Remember to keep invariably that
fly on the surface of the water and within sight
if you can, as you will then be assured, that you



79

are not fishing with your other flies too deeply
immersed in the water^ and as you will be
enabled to judge of the exact position of your
casting-line. Besides, by keeping your nearest
dropper in the position recommended, you will
the more readily perceive a fish rise, and have
a fairer chance of striking him promptly and
successfully. In fishing, particularly for gray-
ling, miss no part of the stream, however shal-
low, but fish it carefully inch by inch. Never
neglect those little partial streams, caused by
small obstructions in the bed of the river, and
which are often to be found a little above the
formation of the head of a rapid current. It is
scarcely necessary to add, that in the curls and
eddies so common at the tails of sharp streams,
the best fish frequently lie. It is complete
loss of time to fish with artificial flies in pools,
and where the water runs deep and smooth,
unless the day be dark and windy, and a nice
curl on the surface. On such days, if the fish
be in rising humour, stick to the deeps, and
you may be sure that you will catch few fish
that are not large ones. 