Dry Fly Trout Fishing

3 d '*

Michael

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Public Library

Kansas City, Mo.

TEHSIOJi IftVIlQPE CORP.

KANSAS CITY, MO PUBLIC LIBRARY

THE AUTHOR, WILLIAM W. MICHAEL

TROUT FISHING

W

William W. Michael

McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, INC.

NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO

DRY-FLY TROUT FISHING

Copyright, 1951, by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. All
rights in this book are reserved. It may not be used for dra-
matic, motion-, or talking-picture purposes without written au-
thorization from the holder of these rights Nor may the book
or parts thereof be reproduced in any manner whatsoever with-
out permission in writing, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, ad-
dress the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., Trade Department,
330 West 42d Street, New York 18, New York.

Published by the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America

I wish to express my thanks and appreciation to my colleagues
at the California Institute of Technology for their cooperation
on the subjects of optics, entomology, and chemistry. My grate-,
ful appreciation is due, in particular, to George R. MacMinn,
Professor of English, for his work in reviewing the manuscript.

The Charles F. Orvis Company of Manchester, Vermont, has
been cooperative with suggestions on rods and their manufacture.

Juliet Haynes has been most generous with her time in mak-
ing some of the drawings and in offering suggestions on the
manuscript revisions. To her I express my sincere thanks.

entente

Foreword xi

I An Invitation to Greater Pleasure i
II A Typical Day 10

III Equipment 16

IV Casting and Retrieving 38

V Hooking, Playing, Landing, Killing, and Wading 52
VI The Part Played by the Sciences 62
VII Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 86
VIII Trout Habits 108

IX Catch Your Limit or Limit Your Catch 118
X Trout, Big or Little Streams, Large or Small
XI Some Factors of Success 138
XII Stream Ethics 151

XIII Fished-out Streams 163

XIV Fish Tales iji
Conclusion 186
Index 189

3F j

^J7 orewora

Learning to fish successfully with a dry fly is to reach the
ultimate in pleasurable reactions. The dry-fly angler, more
than all others, must use consummate art in his craft. Every-
thing about the method calls for delicacy, skill, and under-
standing. In dry-fly fishing the angler definitely experiences
more interesting problems than are ever present in any other
method of angling.

Bill Michael is one of the most enthusiastic and devoted
dry-fly fishermen I have ever known. He is also a polished
performer, handling his rod skillfully and using excellent
technique in his general fishing. Once, many years ago, I
fished with him on the upper reaches of the Owens River, at
Arcularius Ranch in California. It was my first time there,
and because I believe that you can learn to know unfamiliar
waters more quickly by watching an angler experienced at
fishing them than by starting off blindly on your own, I spent
two full days observing him perform. Thus, when I say that
he knows his dry-fly fishing I am not guessing about it. I am
simply stating what I know to be a fact.

In his book Bill Michael has collected the high points from
his many years of experience and has written about them in a
style that will delight the reader. Informative as well as en-
tertaining, Dry-Fly Trout Fishing is a book for both the nov-
ice and the experienced fisherman. It will occupy an honored
place in my library.

RAY BERGMAN
Angling Editor, Outdoor Life

*^s o

ALTHOUGH the dry fly has been In use, and growing more and
more popular, in the United States since before 1900, there
are still a great many sportsmen who for one reason or another
have never had the good fortune to take it up. This is par-
ticularly true in the West in the Rockies, on the Pacific
watershed, and on the streams of the Far Western mountains.

I was even taken to task once by some local Montana fisher-
men for trying to catch trout by such an outlandish procedure
as a dry fly. They told me, "You can't get fish on. this stream,
mister, by whipping that fly through the air. The fish are in
the river, you know/ 1 They didn't know how wrong they
were, and they didn't know how much fun and how many
fish they were missing, I deeply feel that the wet-fly fisherman
is losing one of the greatest joys of fishing, if, when weather
conditions are suitable, he does not try this most fascinating
sport fishing for trout with a dry fly.

In writing this book I have tried to aim first at the beginner
rather than the finished dry-fly expert. Yet even the experi-
enced dry-fly fisherman should find a good deal here that is
of value to him. One of the beauties of this sport that keeps
fishermen coming back to it year after year is, it seems to me,
that there is always more to learn. This book represents the
fruit of forty years of dry-fly fishing, of careful scientific ob-

2 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

servation of some of the best trout streams in America. For
to catch a trout, you first have to understand its point of view.
Only by studying the trout in its natural surroundings, by
applying what man knows of mechanics, hydraulics, optics,
chemistry, entomology, and meteorology 7 , can we with any
certainty increase our ability to catch these fish. But don't
let these words frighten you. In my opinion, dry-fly fishing
is no harder to learn than w T et-fly, and once started, a new
and fascinating sport will be opened up to you.

Just why has this sport of dry-fly fishing attracted so many
devotees? I have tried to find the answer but have never really
succeeded. It may be a combination of things. As a matter of
fact, it does get hold and keep hold of a man's interest more
than any other recreation. The element of uncertainty, the
opportunity always to learn something new, the friendships
one forms among fishermen, the chance to perfect one's tech-
niques, the battle of a giant trout, all contribute. The sur-
roundings are always delightful, for who ever saw a trout
stream that did not flow through beautiful country or that
was not pure water the fish could not live were it otherwise.

Theodore Gordon introduced the dry fly into America in
the early nineties from England, where it had been in use
for years on the chalk streams. It was particularly effective
on the brown trout because of their feeding habits. About
1885 this same species of trout was brought to America from
Germany.

When I was in my early teens, I was lucky enough to have
a man named Frank Whipple for a cousin. He was one of the
first men in the United States to use the dry fly, and took an
immediate interest in my love of fishing. He worked with me
for hours on the Catskill streams of New York, where the dry
fly was first used. I have, in my time, met and fished with many
enthusiasts, but none to equal him in his boundless interest
and zeal. It is to him that I owe my love of the sport. Probably
this man, with the exception of my father, influenced my life
more than any other.

Frank lived for the sport, and about once a month, during

An Invitation to Greater Pleasure

the closed season, he would come up to our house from a
neighboring city. The whole day would be spent, exclusively,
in talking about fly fishing. At times my mother would remark
that Frank was the craziest man she had ever met. She had good
reason to believe so. He would take the living-room furni-
ture and move it around to suit his convenience in illustrating
his fishing experiences.

His conversation, a one-way affair, would run something like
this: "Here was a deep pool I fished last summer. Ill place
the table here to represent the pool. Here was an overhanging
bush. This chair will serve to represent its position. Now a
big boulder was here. Let's put this bookstand for the
boulder." So it would go until all the furniture in the room
was completely disarranged. "I had to approach from the right-
hand side of the stream, but I had to keep low/' he would
continue. He would crouch and stalk up to the imaginary pool
with extreme caution. From here on, it was only a matter of
time before he would catch all the trout in the living room.
My mother would spend several hours after my cousin had
departed in putting things back to rights.

He always carried a small pair of scissors with which to clip
particles of wool from rug fringes, or from any other source,
if they struck his fancy as being suitable for his flies. In those
days the women often wore feathers or bird plumage in their
hats, and undoubtedly pieces of these headgear adornments
met their destiny in the form of dry flies.

So it was that I had implanted in my system the trout-fishing
germ. It has developed through the years. The affliction has
in no way been cured it never will be it is too firmly rooted,
and as long as I am physically able to get to a trout stream,
even if by no other means than to crawl or to be taken there
in a wheel chair, I shall probably be found in summer enjoy-
ing in a restricted way my favorite sport.

Sometimes when I have asked some Western fly fishermen
if they used a dry fly, they have answered that they "floated" the
fly. I would discover that, instead of facing upstream in the
orthodox dry-fly manner, they would still drift the fly down-

Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

stream, using a wet-fly pattern and at times keeping it for an
instant on the water's surface by raising the rod tip. Although
this method often intrigues the fish and is sometimes effec-
tive, anyone familiar with even the rudiments of dry-fly fish-
ing will agree it is not the accepted practice.

Many people are hesitant at first to take up dry-fly fishing.
They have the idea that its techniques present almost in-
surmountable difficulties and obstacles. Anyone who has mas-
tered at least the fundamentals of wet-fly fishing will experi-
ence no difficulty in changing to the dry fly. In fact, many
fishermen start right in on the dry-fly method before even try-
ing the wet variety.

As I said earlier, I don't believe that dry-fly fishing is any
more difficult to master than the wet-fly system. Each presents
its individual problems and some problems common to both.
There are times when the dry fly is useless and when the wet
variety will take fish. In cases like this, no one will hesitate
to use the latter. This is particularly true if you have traveled
many miles and want to catch fish. Even when water condi-
tions are ideal for dry-fly fishing, the wet fly may be as effec-
tive in its appeal to the trout. Even some of the ' jurists" will
fish upstream with a dry and will fish a wet fly on the return
downstream.

To many of us, however, the dry fly has a fascination not to
be found in any other type of fishing. We stand facing up-
stream, and we are aware of everything that takes place. We
can see the fish rising above us, if they are surface-feeding, in
which case we try for a particular fish rather than fishing the
likely looking spots. Our cast must be perfect, or the trout
will not respond to our offering. We are aware of the natural
floating fly coming toward us and try to imitate its action. If
we were to sum up in one word the fascination of dry-fly fishing,
it could be expressed by saying visibility.

A question arises at this point. Why use a fly, anyway; why
not bait? In my early youth and before my cousin took me
in hand, I used garden hackles or any other legal form of lure.
I caught fish, but I know now from experience that I did not

An Invitation to Greater Pleasure 5

reap the full enjoyment from the sport until I became a dry-
fly addict. True, there are still times of the year when, if the
water is off color, a wet fly is indicated, but once water con-
ditions reach the proper stage, I turn to the dry-fly method.

I cannot conscientiously object to my companions using
bait, but I cannot subscribe to or endorse their tactics when
a fly would be effective. Simply from experience I know that
they are missing a lot of fun. I also know that I can, day in and
day out, season in and season out, catch more fish than they.
Dry-fly fishing is a method that permits releasing fish with-
out permanent injury. The question of releasing at least a
portion of one's catch is mentioned later in this book and
will be discussed at length. In the same stretch of time I can
cover as much water, probably more, with a dry fly than with
any other lure. I am aware of the entire action. I often see a
trout follow the fly for several feet, and I wonder with tensed
nerves whether or not the fish will take the offering.

There is no sport that calls for and develops one's reaction
time as thoroughly as dry-fly fishing. It calls for absolute co-
ordination between the eye and the hand. It is a clean, fas-
cinating recreation. Contrary to the opinion of many fisher-
men, particularly bait fishermen, the dry-fly "purist" is not a
snob or a man who feels toward his fellows a sense of superi-
ority. Dry-fly casting develops a sense of timing and rhythm.
It is not difficult to learn enough of the rudiments to catch a
few fish. From there on, it is a matter of practice and persever-
ance. I have seen too many fishermen, who were skeptical,
finally try the method and then, after a few trials and a few
fish, agree that they had formerly missed the real joy of trout
fishing.

The dry fly can be used only under proper conditions, but
the conditions obtain for a good portion of the open season.
It is, of course, essential that the water be clear this is a
must! There are times when dry-fly fishing is practically the
only method that will take fish.

Over the July Fourth week end in the summer of 1949, my
fishing companion, Frank linger, decided to try his luck with

5 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

a multitude of others on the Little Wood River o Idaho. The
water was clear and in ideal condition for the dry fly. The
weather was warm and sunny with no wind. As he had ex-
pected, he found plenty of competition. There were bait,
spinner, and wet-fly fishermen. His observation, as he passed
the fishermen working downstream, was that there were no
dry-fly men in the horde. He passed some twenty or more along
the stretch of water he had selected to fish. Using a No. 12
Adams he was able, with not too much effort, to "broach/' as
the native Idahoans say, some seventeen fish ranging from 10
to 15 inches, all good fish.

Being of an inquiring frame of mind and wanting to check
the efficacy of the dry fly, he asked the various fishermen what
luck they were having. They all remarked that their luck was
poor, most of them replying that no fish were being taken. The
largest individual catch, aside from his own, consisted of two
fish. A few others reported one fish apiece.

I realize that one instance such as this should not be taken
as a criterion, but so many cases have come to my attention
not only my own but those of friends over forty years of dry-
fly fishing, that I am convinced as to the results.

Some dry-fly experts may have ideas other than mine on
the question of basic equipment, type of rod, and line. It is
natural that we all should have our own opinions about the
tools of the art, many of them different from the other fellow's.
It is good that we do, for if we were to agree on all items, the
science of dry-fly fishing would become a set and prosaic
method, and nothing new would become possible.

Many more fish are caught around the open campfire at
night and in front of the fireplace in fishing lodges in the
evening than have actually been taken from the stream in
daylight hours. No two fishermen ever agreed absolutely in
their opinions or in their estimates of the size of fish taken.

Having been born in the foothills of the Adirondacks of
New York and later having moved to the Hudson River valley
at the foot of the Catskills, it is quite natural that the streams
in these regions were the ones on which I learned to cast a

An Invitation to Greater Pleasure 7

fly. For many years these and a few streams in Pennsylvania
and New Jersey received my attention. When I had attained
the age of about thirty, I moved to California and had my
first introduction to Western waters. There are few trout
streams of any importance in California that have not at one
time or another had my fly fall on their surfaces.

After my arrival in the Golden State, it was not long before
my fishing travels started to expand. The next state I visited
on a fishing trip was Oregon, where I tried the famous Des-
chutes. Soon thereafter Washington was added to the list,
then Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, and northern
New Mexico. The streams of the Pacific watershed and the
headwater streams of both the Colorado and Missouri rivers
I have fished for many summers.

Since taking up residence in California, I have made many
visits to the East where I have again fished the waters of my
boyhood. On all these trips it has been possible for me to take
time to try new streams. On the lower peninsula of Michigan
I have enjoyed some superb fishing.

The explanations as to why a dry fly is so fascinating to use
may sound contradictory to the wet-fly and bait men. I admit
that all fishing methods have their place, and I take no ex-
ception to anyone enjoying his sport in the manner he most
prefers. I do feel, however, that all true fishermen should try
all methods in order to learn which one gives them the most
enjoyment and pleasure.

The experiences which are told in the next chapter about
a typical day of fishing could take place on most any stream
in America. They are based on actual happenings. In fact,
the anecdotes which follow throughout the book actually hap-
pened. Not once has fiction been used to illustrate a point.
Two or three of my friends are overly modest and have ob-
jected to being mentioned in print, but I'm sure even the fic-
tionalization will not disguise them.

One could write an entire book on trout species, but most
of us are content to identify the particular trout we catch and
to know something about his feeding habits. It makes no dif-

g Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

ference where you fish for trout, in the East or the West, it's
your knowledge of all those things that go toward success that
holds regardless of location.

What may happen to our sport within the next ten or twenty
years is hard to predict. One thing is certain, and that is
that it will not improve with the vast horde of fishermen who
take to our streams each year. Limits have been reduced in
nearly every state, yet the depletion of our streams continues.
In many cases the only fish taken are those put in by the fish
and game commissions. For this reason the chapter on Catch
Your Limit or Limit Your Catch has been included. We as
true sportsmen may be able to make our contribution toward
future fishing by returning a share of trout to the stream.

You may be one of those fishermen who is concerned with
enjoying the surroundings fully as much as the actual taking
of your catch. Often this is gained on the small streams as
well as on the large rivers. Perseverance is essential for any
success, and trout fishing is no exception. Illustrations have
been incorporated in the text to show that perseverance pays.

No set rules can be laid down for particular cases in fishing
any more than they can in any other sport. There are certain
fundamental rules, it is true, but extraordinary problems may
call for special solutions. Unusual occurrences are cited when
it became necessary to use unconventional methods. They
may not apply to many problems one encounters, but they are
useful in certain particular instances. You will meet with your
own special cases there is usually some method, if you can
only discover it, which will help you solve your enigma.

The true sportsman needs no advice on stream conduct.
His actions and behavior along the stream are governed by
ethics, his common sense, and his knowledge of the other man's
rights. He conducts himself in the manner in which he expects
the other sportsman he may meet to conduct himself. He re-
spects the rights of others, be it the owner of the land through
which the stream flows or the fisherman who is on the stream.
Many of you who have fished over a period of years have dis-
covered that you derive fully as much pleasure in seeing your

An Invitation to Greater Pleasure g

fishing companion enjoy his sport as you do your own. If you
can contribute to his pleasure, you in turn derive pleasure, I
have been helped so often by men whom I have met along the
stream and who were complete strangers that I have included
a few instances.

It has been my good fortune to fish the dry fly in many of
the streams of the East, including those in New York, the
Carolinas, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, some of the New Eng-
land states, and Michigan. Throughout the Rocky Mountains
I have had the opportunity to try it on the water of New Mex-
ico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah and
then Oregon, Washington, and California.

As I mention later in this book, the life of a fisherman who
has to work is all too short to cover all the streams of our coun-
try. He must fish those streams where opportunity dictates
and hope that some day he may try other waters. It is my be-
lief that the many streams I have fished give a fairly accurate
cross section of what the waters of the United States offer in
the way of dry-fly fishing.

Before plunging into the scientific phases of the sport, it
might be well if we took a day off and went fishing. This is
what may happen on any "typical day/'

7
te

THE WEATHER for September had been unprecedentedly warm.
I had been in the city for too long since returning from my
last fishing trip, and the strain was beginning to tell. I reached
for the telephone and dialed my old fishing pal, Jack. It had
been a year since we had fished together.

"How about taking next week off and joining me on an
expedition to that stream you have always wanted to fish?* 1
I asked.

"Don't see how I can/' he replied. "Should stay here and
wind up a lot of work.*'

"Drop around tonight and see the movies I took this sum-
mer," I urged. "There are some swell shots of big rainbow in
action."

The pictures soon broke down my friend's resistance, and
I called the ranch to make reservations for the following week.
We wanted to be sure of accommodations after the 4Oo-mile
drive. The ranch people said the fishing had never been better
than during the past week. Everything was shaping up nicely.

Every bend, every pool, every riffle on this river I knew
by heart. Through the ages nature has fashioned its course
into a stream to delight the heart of the dry-fly angler. High
in the mountains it is a racing, tumbling, brawling brook,
entirely unsuited to our sport. Before long, however, the small
tributaries and springs add to its volume so that in a few miles
it is more suited to the dry fly. Where the stream can first be
seen from the road that parallels its length, the fishable water

A Typical Day n

begins. Throughout this portion it is bordered by fir and pine
forests. As one journeys downstream, he notices that the gra-
dient of the river flattens, giving some deep pools, crystal-clear
runs, and glides.

Farther down the valley the stream leaves its deep canyon
and enters a vast lowland valley through which it meanders
slowly. Here are the deepest pools and runs with undercut
banks where a mammoth may be lurking to take your fly. It
was in these lower reaches that I hooked the largest trout of
the season just a year ago.

The day for our departure arrived. Full equipment stowed
in the car, we drove off for the mountains, hoping to get in
a little evening fishing that same day. Our timing, however,
must have gone wrong, so we spent the evening in grooming
our tackle for the next day's sport.

In late September there is no need for the fisherman to
turn out early in the morning the temperature of the air and
water has not risen sufficiently to bring out a hatch and
start the fish working. So we ate a leisurely breakfast and
then headed for the river. We had selected the lower part of
the stream in hopes of engaging a big brown or two, but on
the way down Jack spotted a particularly attractive piece of
water, so he dropped me, turned the car around, and went
back upstream about a mile. I was to fish up to the car and in
turn drive upriver to pick him up at one o'clock.

I stepped into the water and started casting into the most
likely-looking spots. In a surprisingly short time I was re-
warded with an n-inch trout, but it was at least a half hour
before I even raised another fish. Where was this excellent
fishing they had told me about when I phoned?

Since it was just around the next bend that I had taken the
big trout of a year ago, I paid particular attention to this run
and cast with all the skill I could command; but my only re-
ward was a lo-inch rainbow. By this time I saw the car just
ahead of me, so I decided to drive up and check with Jack.
There he was out in the stream, fishing away without a care
in the world.

12 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

We sat down on the bank of the river in the warm sunlight.

"How did. you do?" he asked me.

"Well/* I replied, "just fair; I couldn't seem to interest
any of the big ones."

"Take a look at these/' Jack said, and I detected just a
hint of gloating in his voice. When I raised the lid of his creel,
there before my eyes were five or six 10 and 1 1 inchers, with
two others that would measure at least 15 inches.

"How did you do it?" I asked. "Use dynamite?"

"No, took them all on a No. 1 2 Adams. It's easy if you know
how/' he joked. "Some day I'll be glad to give you a lesson."

"Very kind of you/' I countered, "but I'd hate to see you
lose any time from your casting; your arm needs practice/'

"Seriously, though/' Jack admitted, "I was lucky. Both of
those big boys came out of the same run and are the only good
fish I raised all morning/'

Now that our conversation had reached a serious strain,
we started to analyze the situation.

"I found they hit short this morning," I said.

"Well, most of mine did the same/' Jack replied, "but those
two big rainbow acted as though they had been on a fast for
a week/*

"I tried a smaller fly when they hit short/' I ventured, "but
they wouldn't even look at it."

"Check you there/' Jack agreed. "I did the same and drew
a blank."

"If we can only get a hatch this afternoon it's been a little
cool this morning/* I hopefuly commented.

"I know we will," my friend said.

That is one thing I admire In Jack, his eternal optimism.
When my spirits are at low ebb, he is always the one to cheer
me up. Many are the times he has given me the choicest water
on the whole river to fish.

While we had been eating lunch, a wind had started to
blow, so we decided to try the portion of the river where the
forest would give us some protection in casting. It was not
long before I was back in the stream, and once again Jack

A Typical Day 13

drove on upriver about a mile, so that I could fish up to the
car, thereby saving a long walk back.

For about an hour the fishing was on a par with the morn-
ing's results. I was not discouraged, but I could have wel-
comed a little more action. Then I dropped my fly close to the
far bank where the water had cut an enticing pocket There
was a sudden flash in the sunlight, and I was fast to a large
fish. As he leaped clear of the water, I was able to get a glimpse
of him and knew that I had hooked a 3- or 4-pound rainbow.
The fight that followed was spectacular. The fish headed for
a tangle of old roots and snags, but I managed to turn him into
swifter water. He made a dash into the rapids through which
I had just fished and headed downstream. Immediately I
started in pursuit, stumbling and tripping in my effort to keep
up with the trout. I knew that these were critical moments,
for if the fish was able to take enough line, its very weight in
the water might help to pull loose the fly. The rainbow de-
cided to fight it out in the pool below the rapids, and it was
here that the real battle took place. Gradually he weakened,
till at last I was successful in bringing him to net.

After killing my catch, I noticed that the leader had been
frayed, so I clipped off the fly and took a fresh one from my
fly box. It was then that I first became aware that my hands
were trembling and my heart pounding. Try as I might, I
just could not thread the leader through the eye of the fly! I had
to sit down on the bank of the stream for a few minutes before
I could get back to my fishing.

In about an hour I noticed considerably more activity on
the part of the fish and was soon enjoying excellent fishing.
However, in another hour this activity ceased as suddenly as
it had begun. After trying unsuccessfully for some time to
Interest the fish, I decided to drive up the river and pick up
Jack.

As he climbed into the car, he could hardly wait to say, "You
know, along about three o'clock those trout really started to
hit I sure went to town on them."

"Same here," I answered. "For about an hour I had more

14. Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

rises than I had all morning I wonder what struck them?"

"Suppose you tell me," Jack challenged. "But they quit just
as quick as they started, and from then on I couldn't raise a
thing. What say we go back to the ranch for dinner?"

"Better take a look in my creel/* I said. "I took a few little
fish."

"Holy mackerel!" Jack exclaimed. "Where did you get
that fellow?"

"Met a guy down the river that gave me a few lessons," I
replied. I just couldn't help rubbing it in a little.

We had arranged for an early dinner, and while eating
I decided to fish about a mile up the river where there are
some large boulders, behind which often lie a few rainbow.
Jack, however, thought that near the ranch might be better,
so he selected that water. He worked on the theory that every-
one had neglected to try this local stretch on the supposition
that it had been too heavily fished by fishermen who were too
lazy to walk up- or downstream.

My results for the evening were good, and once more I
raised a large trout but merely raked him with the hook. I
made a mental note of the spot and decided to return to it
before we went back to the city.

It was particularly peaceful along the river that evening,
and in the twilight of a beautiful day I decided that I had
fished enough. In the distance I heard the sweet note of a can-
yon wren, and there before me as I crossed the stream poised
a doe and her fawn. As I walked up to the car in the gathering
dusk, I thought of many things: of the fragrance of the new-cut
hay along the meadow that morning, of the sunlight on the
rapids, of the magnificent battle of the gallant trout, of the
present peace and quiet of these surrounding hills. My heart
was full of gratitude for the kindly man who in my youth had
taught me not only to cast a fly but -to enjoy nature as well.

I found Jack sitting on a log by the car. His rod was dis-
jointed.

"Didn't you fish?" I asked.

"Yes, for a little while," he replied. "I quit early and have

A Typical Day 15

just been enjoying the scenery and listening to the river. No
use trying to catch all the fish in the stream, you know."

I could see he too had succumbed to the magic of his sur-
roundings. His voice was hushed as he said, "How did you do?'*

"It was good/' I answered, without too much enthusiasm.

For some reason I felt that it was not the fishing that I was
on the river for that evening. I knew that in the solitude of
these hills I had found peace and quiet, an opportunity for
reflection, the time to think. It was along this river and all
the other rivers I have fished through many years that I came
to realize how much this recreation has meant to me. Not only
the pure joy and the thrill of fishing, but the many friendships
I have formed and the means of unlocking some of the secrets
of nature.

I seemed to sense these same feelings in my friend Jack. He
was much quieter than usual. Suddenly he turned to me, and
in his voice I could detect no note of the tiredness that had
been so evident in the city.

"How glad I am/' he said, "that you asked me to conie with
you on this trip. What say we steal another week and stay here?"

THE MOST important item in one's equipment is his rod. It
is also the most difficult item to select. There are no set rules
for selecting a good dry-fly rod. I might write several pages
about action and where the action in the rod should take place,
but to the beginner such fine points would probably be only
a hindrance. The experienced man knows a good rod and
needs no help in its selection.

The best advice would be to take a friend who has proved
himself to be a good dry-fly man to the best tackle store you
can find. Let him help you. If he has been fishing a dry fly for
some time, he will know a good rod instinctively and by his
own experience the. minute he picks it up and tries it. If you
lack such a friend, then by all means go to the best tackle house
there is, and get the salesman who handles dry-fly equipment
to help you. Every reputable house is only too pleased to as-
sist you. It is to its advantage to fit you with the proper tools.
Try it out. Most dealers will let you run a line on the rod and
see how it works before you actually purchase it.

Above all else, watch out for the too soft or "whippy" variety
the one where the action or flexing of the rod is down
toward the butt. It will bend too easily and is not in any way
suited to your needs. The action should be toward the tip.

I favor a two-piece rod over a three-piece. Its only disad-
vantage is that the longer carrying case may be a little awk-
ward in automobiles and in trains. A Mend of mine who is an

16

Equipment 17

expert rod maker has fashioned a dry-fly rod or two In one
continuous length with a removable butt. Here is the ideal
rod, but its two drawbacks are, of course, inconvenient porta-
bility and the fact that, if you break it toward the tip, the
whole rod is lost, and there is no salvage value.

The more the rod costs, everything else being equal, the
better the rod. I have learned through bitter experience that
if you are to do much fishing, It does not pay, in the long run,
to economize on a rod. I know of no sporting equipment that
has to stand up under more punishment than a dry-fly rod. If
you fish five or six hours a day, you will probably be false
casting and casting as much as 500 times an hour, even
allowing for your progress up the stream. In a day's time this
will amount to as much as 3,000 casts. If you are lucky enough
to fish a month or two in a season, then the rod will be flexed
at least 30,000 to 60,000 times. Take this over a long period
of years, and what other equipment will stand up under such
a strain? Then, too, you need a good rod when you hook a
good fish and have to play him to a standstill. Here Is extra
punishment. The word "punishment" is used advisedly. You
are not expected actually to go out and abuse such a fine tool,
but the rod has to be able to take the punishment necessary
to do the work.

Now, how much does a good dry-fly rod cost? I would put
thirty-five dollars as a minimum under present-day prices.
True, you can buy a cheaper rod which has the proper action
and which might not, in a tackle house, feel any different
from its more expensive counterpart. You will find, however,
If you are going to do much dry-fly fishing over a long period
of time, that it will not stand the strain. Its life is much shorter
than that of the more expensive rod.

I have a 3 14 -ounce rod (two-piece) that I have used for
many years and with which I have caught literally thousands
of trout. It was an expensive rod when I bought it, costing,
long before postwar days, fifty dollars. Today that rod is as
good as the day it was purchased. The cork grip has been worn
by my hand and thumb from what was once a rounded cross

i8 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

section to a very flat elliptical surface. Where my thumb has
rested, there is a definite, deep indentation, worn there by
countless thousands of casts. It paid in the beginning to buy
a good rod. Today one can pay upwards of one hundred dol-
lars for the better rods.

/ The length and weight of the rod depend somewhat on the
type o stream you expect to fish. On the average-sized stream,
probably an 8-foot rod will be about right. It should, in my
opinion, weigh not more than 4 ounces. Remember, you are
casting constantly, and anything weighing more than 4 ounces
will tend to tire you and interfere with your pleasure. If your
casting arm becomes tired, your accuracy and delicacy will
suffer, and consequently your fishing will suffer. I have fished
the large Western streams with an 8-foot, gT^-ounce rod and
have experienced no difficulty in reaching all the "hot spots"
I wished to reach.

In my judgment no material has yet been found for use in
rod manufacturing that will equal bamboo. Lancewood, green-
heart, glass fiber, and other materials have been tried, but
although they have their place, they cannot equal the bam-
boo. Steel, also, has been tried but has never proved to be as
good as bamboo.

The best cane for rods was obtained before the war from
the province of Tonkin in China. It was seasoned for several
years before it was fit for use. It came from hillside regions
that were subjected to strong winds, which developed the
resilience in the fibers so necessary for casting. The bamboo
is split into sections of equilateral triangular shape so that
six of these may be glued together to form one section of a
hexagonal cross section. These individual sections are tapered
to fit the requirements of the finished rod so that the com-
pleted product may have a proper taper from the butt to the
tip. The taper is accomplished on only two sides of the indi-
vidual pieces so that the natural enamel of the bamboo is
not disturbed.

One of the most recent developments in rod construction
has been perfected by the Charles F. Orvis Company. They

Equipment ig

have succeeded in Impregnating the fibers of the bamboo used
in their rods with phenolic resin which makes the rod im-
pervious to moisture, heat, and freezing. This is a distinct
advantage over the rod not so treated. I have used one of
these rods and find that its action leaves nothing to be desired.

A word about care in the use of the rod. Treat it with re-
spect. Watch, when you carry it through brush and under-
growth, that you do not hit the tip and break it. If you always
carry it butt end forward, in case of a fall you have a better
chance of saving it rather than ramming the tip into the
ground. When, for some reason or other, you wish to set it
down on the ground, set it up against a tree. Your fishing part-
ner may not know that you have laid it on the ground (if you
have) and may come barging along and unintentionally step
on it.

It is strange what can happen to a rod. I cite one of my own
experiences in this connection. I was fishing one of the Cali-
fornia streams where the wind has a habit of forming small
whirlwinds, locally known as "dust devils." I had come in for
lunch from the stream to the car. It was desert country with
no trees, so I carefully laid the rod on top of the automobile.
Along came a "dust devil" that lifted the rod from the car top
and deposited it on the ground. Did it land butt end first?
Of course not. It landed on the tip and broke off some twelve
inches. Fortunately, it was not my pet rod, but the occurrence
only proves that the utmost care is necessary with as delicate
an implement as the trout rod.

If you are going to carry your rod in the car from one por-
tion of the stream to another, it is always advisable to take
it apart. If you do not put it in the case, then for safety's sake
lay it on the shelf under the rear window or on the back seat,
if there are to be no passengers.

Another word of caution. It seems almost unnecessary to
mention that a rod which may have the slightest trace of mois-
ture on it should never be put in its aluminum case until
it has had the chance to dry out thoroughly. Otherwise it will
only bring grief to the owner, as the sections may very readily

2O Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

become loose by the glue's losing its adhesive quality. Dry the
rod out overnight if you can.

If you are inclined to make your own repairs, the follow-
ing suggestions may be in order. Watch the rod for slight nicks
on the surface caused by inadvertently striking it against a rock
or tree. A little varnish applied to such a spot will seal it over
and protect the bamboo. It is a good practice to keep an eye
on the wrappings or windings that hold on the guides instead
of waiting until they start to unwind before applying a coat
of varnish to them.

When the season is over and you have finished fishing, go
over the rod from butt to tip and see what it needs. If you are
inclined to tinker, you will enjoy refinishing a rod. Maybe the
ferrules have worked loose. If so, take them off and recement
them. If there is no pin through them I hope there is not,
because pins are an abomination a little heat applied over
an alcohol lamp will loosen them enough to permit their being
pulled off.

If the metal itself on the male or female ferrule becomes ex-
cessively worn so that you have been experiencing the annoy-
ance of having the tip work loose while you cast, it should be
fixed. You can either replace it with a new ferrule or, as I
often do, remedy the trouble yourself. Take the rod to an
electroplater and have him electroplate the male end, build-
ing it up by a thousandth of an inch or two. Nickel plating
is the better, as chromium plating is so hard that with most
abrasives it is almost impossible to bring it down to the cor-
rect size. If you have access to a lathe, wrap the rod near the
ferrule with friction tape, place it in the chuck of the lathe,
and tighten up only enough to hold it. The heads tock is hol-
low, and you can run the joint of the rod you are working on
through this hole. Now, bring it down to size by holding a
piece of fine emery cloth on the revolving male ferrule. By this
method you can get as fine a fit as you wish.

Perhaps you find that the guides have become worn to a
point where they may be wearing out your line. If this is the
case, then the whole rod will have to be refinished. Most rod

Equipment 21

makers will do this work for a nominal sum and turn out a
professional job. However, you can do it yourself if you so
desire. First, lay the sections along a board, and mark on the
board the spacing of the guides as they originally came on
the rod, so that you will be able to put them back with the
same spacing. Take a razor blade and cut the wrappings very
carefully, making sure not to penetrate the enamel of the bam-
boo. You can now remove the guides.

If you scrape off the original varnish, by all means be ex-
tremely careful not to remove any of the natural enamel of
the bamboo itself. I have obtained good results with a paint
remover. Apply this with a brush, let it stand a minute or two,
then with a piece of old burlap start rubbing the rod section.
The old varnish, or lacquer, will come off with little trouble,
but you may need to repeat the process several times before
the old finish is entirely removed. When you have done this,
wipe off the rod thoroughly with gasoline, benzine, carbon
tetrachloride, or any cleaning fluid. The paint remover has
dissolved in it some paraffin, which, if left on the rod, will
prevent the new varnish from adhering properly. It always
makes a finished job to clean the cork grip, which has prob-
ably become discolored and dirty during your fishing season.
A little acetone will do this, or a good dry-cleaning fluid will
serve if no acetone is available.

You are now ready for the wrappings and the new guides. If
you find the rod has taken a slight set due to the strain always
having been applied to it in one direction, because the guides
have been on the one side, then by all means place the new
ones on the opposite side. This will, in time, reverse the set
and result in a straight rod. The wrappings may be put on in
any color you desire, and usually silk thread is used. When you
have selected the color that you wish, put on the guide, keeping
it in place while you wind one end by applying a little Scotch
Tape or masking tape on the other end of the guide. The
wrappings are put on by the whip finish.

When the guides are all in place, then very carefully pass
the wrappings through an alcohol flame for a fraction of an

22 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

instant just long enough to burn off the fuzz of the silk.
This will ensure a smooth finish when the lacquer is applied.
Before applying the lacquer or varnish, it is customary to cover
the wrappings with a coat of "color preservative/' available
at any tackle store. This enables you to maintain the same
color you selected. Varnish has a tendency to turn the color
a few shades darker unless you first apply the color preserva-
tive.

In varnishing, a small camel's-hair brush is recommended,
although your forefinger will serve. Avoid applying too heavy
a coat. Spread it thinly. Hang up the section in a warm room
free from dust, and when it is thoroughly dry, rub it down
lightly with the finest of steel wool. Apply a second coat of
varnish, and when this is dry, rub it down lightly. As a rule,
two coats of varnish are enough. It pays to use the highest
quality of spar varnish you can buy. A coat of wax applied to
the rod from time to time during its use will help to preserve
the finish. It is a good practice also to wax your rod every fall
before you put it away for the winter.

I hang up some of my rods in a cool, dry room by their
tips, while I store others in their cases, laying them therein
fiat on a shelf in the same cool, dry room. Avoid storing or
keeping your rods for any length of time at all near exces-
sive heat.

One last word. There are some things we never lend even to
our best friends, and our choice trout rods, to my way of think-
ing, fall in this category. I keep one or two "fairly good" rods
as spares just for borrowers, but my pet ones are never loaned,

REELS AND LINES

The standard reel for the dry-fly fishermen is the single-
action reel. Some fishermen, particularly in the West, use the
automatic. However, they are usually wet-fly anglers. The
great advantage to the automatic is, of course, its ability to
take up line rapidly when needed. With the single-action reel,
one often has to hand-strip the line, taking it up on the reel

Equipment 23

just as soon as the opportunity presents itself. My main reason
for objecting to the automatic is that I have been unable to
obtain one light enough to balance the rod. 'Then, again, I
was brought up on the single-action variety and may be averse
to changing my tactics. It has been my observation, however,
that practically all dry-fly men prefer the nonautomatic type.

The reel should weigh approximately the same as the rod.
For years I was of the belief that, if one could economize on
tackle, probably the reel was the best item, since after all it
was more of a storage place for the line than anything else.
I had no trouble with a moderately priced one until one day,
when I was playing a large rainbow, the reel jammed, the fly
broke off in the trout's mouth, and I immediately changed
my mind. Soon thereafter I bought a new English-make reel,
and I have now used this for many years. It is still as good as
the day I bought it and will probably last as long as I live. It
has been a good investment, both from the standpoint of eco-
nomics and from that of the mental satisfaction of knowing
there is none better made.

One can always get into a discussion as to whether or not
the reel should be mounted on the left- or right-hand side
when the rod is held with the reel down. Being right-handed,
I have always hung the reel with the handle facing to the left,
and I have schooled myself to reeling it with the left hand. In
so doing, I never have to transfer the rod from the right to
the left hand a dangerous procedure when playing a big
trout. True, most good reels are made to be used the other
way, and I have had to have them made over to suit my
method.

A good reel deserves good care. Do not rest the butt of the
rod on the ground when the reel is attached, particularly if
the soil is sandy. This is the best way to get grit into the bear-
ings and ruin them. Keep the reel oiled and clean as you would
any other mechanism. When the season is over, take it apart,
and clean out all the old oil and dirt with gasoline. Oil it,
and put it away in a closed box or reel case so that dust will

24 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

not accumulate In it. I could go on describing reels, but the
beginner will do well to take the advice of a good dealer as
to the one that best suits his needs and pocketbook.

Many different lines have been developed, and various
tapers have been perfected, some more suitable for distance
casting than others. Here let me remark that distance casting,
although convenient on some occasions, is ordinarily not
necessary. Only a small proportion of one's fish is taken at
more than 50 feet away. For that reason I prefer, for all-round
dry-fly work, the standard double-taper line. Most of my fish
are taken from 10 to 50 feet from me, and I have never ex-
perienced too much trouble in reaching any of the "hot spots"
with this type of line. It is my belief that the fly caster does
not have the control in striking and hooking a fish at 70 to
90 feet away that he does with those under 50 feet from him.
Many fishermen will not agree with me, but my experience
has been as stated. I have a friend who has won many prizes
in tournament distance casting, and he is so conscious of his
distance that he is somewhat at a loss when it comes to mak-
ing a cast under 50 feet. He is "distance-conscious/*

The line should fit the rod. If it is too light or too heavy,
one's casting will suffer. A line too light for the rod fails to
bring out its action, which is simply one way of saying that
the rod is not being flexed sufficiently to do its required work.
As an exaggerated comparison, it is like trying to cast a string
tied to a broom handle. On the other hand, if the line is too
heavy, then the rod is overloaded it is not built to handle
such a heavy load. The exaggerated comparison here would
be that of one's trying to cast a hawser with a buggy whip.
Somewhere between these two extremes lies the proper line.
Most manufacturers of good rods today place a tag on the
rod recommending the weight of line to be used. Since the
advent of nylon, many lines are being made of this material
as well as silk. I have no particular preference for nylon over
silk for lines. I have used them both and found them equally
satisfactory.

It is good to support your line with a strong, fine-diameter

Equipment 25

- backing. You never know when that big fish may strip your
tapered line off the reel and take out a good share of the back-
ing as well. Recently a hollow double-taper line has been made
by the Miller Hollow Dry-Fly Line Company of Santa Bar-
bara, California. I have used one of these lines and purposely
left off the dressing to test its floating qualities. They were re-
markable, and probably this line will be most acceptable to
the dry-fly angler.

Always dry your line when you come in from fishing. For a
small sum you can purchase a collapsible drying reel for this
purpose, or you can uncoil the line from the reel and leave
it in loose folds on a table.

A line should always be dressed before the day's fishing.
There are many good dressings on the market. Personally, I
have always preferred "Mucilin," an English product. Rub it
on the line, and work it in with your fingers. Remove all ex-
cess dressing, as this may only clog the guides.

If you fish all day, you will probably have to stop fishing
at least once, thoroughly dry the line, and reapply the dress-
ing. It will pay to do this if there is any tendency of the line
to sink below the water surface.

When you store your line for the winter, during the closed
season, it may be hung in a closet in loose coils on pegs out of
the way. Keep the coils large so that no permanent set may
take place in the line.

LEADERS AND FLIES

The connecting link between the line and the fly is the
leader. Two materials are used: one, silkworm gut, this being
the unspun silk of the silkworm; and the other, nylon. The
leader should be tapered down to a size suitable to the condi-
tions at hand. In speaking of leader sizes, two matters are con-
sidered: one, the breaking strength of the strands, and the
other, the diameter. In the smaller sizes, the silkworm variety
is drawn through a die to give it a uniformity of diameter for
its entire length. The calibration is spoken of in terms of x;
signifies that it has been drawn three times, sx two times,

26 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

and so on. A table is given below showing the diameter in
thousandths of different sizes. Probably the silkworm variety

Number

Diameter in
thousandths
of an inch

Number

Diameter in
thousandths
of an inch

o/5

.023

8/5

.013

V5

.021

9/5

.012

2/5

.019

OX

.Oil

3/5

.018

IX

.010

4/5

.017

2X

.009

5/5

.016

5*

.008

6/5

.015

4x

.007

7/5

.014

5 X

.006

is preferred by most dry-fly men, but in the past few years, I
have gone over exclusively to the nylon for reasons to be
stated later. The proper taper of the leader in the silkworm
variety is accomplished by tying together strands of differ-
ent diameters, from the largest down through intermediate
sizes to the finest. Inasmuch as there is a practical limit in
length of the individual strands, this is the only way the cor-
rect taper can be accomplished.

Nylon can be obtained in practically any length desired in
standard sizes. Tapered leaders can be made up in the same
way with this material as with silkworm. Recently there has
been developed for the market a knotless tapered leader in
nylon, known by its trade name "Dun-Wei." Perfected by the
proprietor of the organization known as MacAllister 8c Com-
pany, Los Angeles, it can be obtained in any size and any taper
desired.

A knotless tapered leader has a distinct advantage, particu-
larly with "gut-shy" trout. Not only is the knot the weakest
link, but it has the habit of throwing a definite shadow on
the stream bottom. When you are unfortunate enough, in
casting, to have the leader fall partially floating and partially
submerged, this condition of shadow and refraction of the
light rays from the places where the leader enters the water
will scare any self-respecting trout. If you wish to test this

Equipment %*

shadow condition, all you need to do is to take a dry leader,
fasten it to your line, and cast on a smooth, still shallow pool,
allowing the leader to rest partially on the water and par-
tially submerged. You will be surprised at the shadows it casts
on the bottom of the pool (see picture facing page 38). So, the
less knots we have, the better off we are.

The reasons why I prefer nylon for leaders are that, diameter
for diameter, it has a greater tensile strength than the silk-
worm variety, and it has the ability to stretch more under
strain than does the silkworm. Being less brittle, the nylon
leader can also be tied on without previous soaking, although
it does handle better if soaked in a leader box between moist
felt pads. But the one great advantage is that now, after a wait
of years, it can be obtained in a knotless taper in any size one
wishes.

During the past two summer vacations I have used the nylon
leader with excellent results. The advantage of its knotless
taper alone far outweighs the advantages of the silkworm
variety with its taper accomplished by knotting together
different-sized strands. I have definitely improved my fishing
by the use of this particular leader. The only objections I
have to nylon are, first, that in casting in a wind, it has the
tendency to become knotted in places, and second, that it is
more difficult to keep it submerged while the fly is floating.

As to lengths and sizes of leaders, much depends on the
water conditions and the shyness of the fish. In fairly high
water a shorter leader may be used, but as the water falls
and becomes more and more clear and the fish consequently
more and more shy, a longer leader tapering to a much smaller
size is required. Even on the large streams of the West and in
high water, I never use a leader shorter than 8 feet and taper-
ing to sx. In extreme conditions of clear, low water, I will
drop down to 4x and sometimes lengthen the leader to 12
feet, with plenty of 4X, on the business end. There is no set
rule in this regard. We have to fit the leader to the stream con-
ditions and to the actions of the fish.

When it comes to flies, I hesitate to state my opinions too

28 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

definitely. All dry-fly men have their own ideas in this matter.
It is not necessary to describe the making, the patterns, and
all the various ramifications of trout flies. Many books have
been written on this subject, many opinions expressed. A large
number of fly fishermen tie their own flies. It is a fascinating
recreation and adds much to your sport. You will get a real
thrill when you land your first trout on one of your own made
flies.

The reader should know that basically the dry fly is tied
so that it will float more readily than the wet fly. In fact, the
wet fly is supposed to sink/ the dry fly to float. Consequently,
the dry fly is tied with stiffer hackles and with these standing
out at right angles to the body. There are literally innumera-
ble patterns someone is always trying something new. I
have finally limited myself to a very few patterns in different
sizes. It is my opinion that more depends on the presentation
of the fly than on the pattern.

If I were given the choice of only two flies to round out my
remaining fishing days, I would mention simply the Adams
and the Light Cahill Quill. On these two patterns, in vari-
ous sizes, I have caught the greatest number of trout, and I will
probably always have at least these two in my fly box in all
sizes. Do not misunderstand me. I carry many patterns, but
on these two I pin my faith and catch most of my fish.

On the Rocky Mountain streams I always start off with the
Adams, while on the High Sierra streams of California I start
with the Light CahilL Here let me say that last summer I
fished a half-dozen or more streams in the Rockies over a
period of six weeks and never used any other fly than the No.
12 Adams. Also let me state that I caught all the fish I wanted.
In fact the fishing was excellent, and there was not one time
when I needed to change in order to improve my take. This
statement, I am afraid, will make many of my readers remark,
"That guy must be crazy." The fact remains, however, that
that "crazy guy" took all the fish he wanted on this No. 12
Adams, so why should he use any other? I have a lot of fun
being crazy.

Equipment ^ 29

I once knew a man who fished the Catsklll streams, concen-
trating most of his efforts on the Esopus. He was a native o
the region and one of the best dry-fly men I ever knew. He
never used any fly but the Light Cahill, but the way he could
cast and catch fish was a revelation, and to watch him in the
use of the dry fly was an education in itself.

On the streams of California the Light Cahill has proved
most effective. It is an easy fly for the fisherman to see on the
water, particularly in the shade and on overcast days, and
has always been a favorite. After all, so much depends on the
way the fly is presented to the fish that and the proper size
but the presentation takes precedence over all other factors.

Next to presentation I would place, in order of importance,
size. There are times when nothing but a very small fly will
interest a fish, particularly when he is feeding on small, almost
invisible gnats. A stream in Wyoming comes to mind. The
trout were extremely active and would look at no fly I was
using. Finally, in desperation, I put on a No. 20 Blue Upright.
This would raise fish, but its small size resulted in landing
only about one fish out of five. However, it was fun hook-
ing them, and after all, one out of five was better than no
fish at all. In the higher water, larger flies are usually in-
dicated, but even under the most favorable conditions a No.
1 2 is about as large as should be used.

Let me cite another instance of taking trout under excep-
tional conditions. On the Owens River of California (see photo
facing page 39), along that portion now flooded by Lake Crow-
ley, is the home of some good fish. The stream is a meandering
type with deep, undercut banks and harbors some very large
fish as well as the usual run-of-the-mill trout from 8 inches on
up. This part of the river is bordered by a wide, open expanse
of more or less arid and alkali meadow but with sufficient grass
to graze cattle. During the summer months hundreds of head
of Herefords roam the stream bank. In the afternoon there is
almost always a wind blowing in this area. During the grassr
hopper season there are untold numbers of these insects feed-
ing on the grass. As the cattle walk along the banks, quite often

go Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

they scare up these "hoppers/* and the wind blows a few onto
the water's surface.

During one of these grasshopper periods I approached the
stream and noticed four or five rises to the "hoppers" as they
drifted downstream on the river's surface. I tried several flies
with no success. Inasmuch as I had no creation that resem-
bled a "hopper/' I selected the largest fly in my possession, a
No. 12 Fan Wing Royal Coachman. A long cast along the op-
posite bank in water 6 feet deep brought an immediate rise,
and a fish 14 inches long was taken. Following up this pro-
cedure I was able, during the next few hours, to take a good
catch. My only explanation is that the fly was big enough to
resemble roughly the "hoppers" on the water. Several times
since, when the grasshopper season was on, I have been able
to repeat the process.

Unfortunately, in later years, a project of diverting water
from another watershed through a tunnel emptying into this
river has, during the open season, practically ruined this
stretch of the Owens River by a constant and excessive flow
of water.

It does pay, after all, to carry a variety of flies for those ex-
ceptional times when one must use his ingenuity and pa-
tience to entice a trout to the dry fly. Most of the time, how-
ever, I have found that, if I present the fly properly, the results
will be satisfactory.

To return to the fly itself. I prefer a fly lightly dressed
that is to say, the fewer hackles it has, still permitting it to
float, the better I like it. A thickly overdressed fly is, in my
opinion, not necessary. The only places where, it seems to be
called for are in very rough water and in "pocket" fishing,
those places in the swift current where a pocket or small piece
of relatively still water is formed by a boulder or rock. On
water of this type a bivisible will often ride high and dry
where a sparsely tied fly will soon become submerged.

Here let me digress for a moment to mention some of the
sport in fishing water of this type. Many trout fishermen, par-

Equipment 31

ticularly of the bait variety, will fish only the pools and the
quieter stretches. In rainbow streams there is some rare sport
awaiting even the dry-fly fisherman on the swift water, if the
stream is boulder-strewn.

The approach to these pockets is usually made from di-
rectly downstream. Often a short cast is all that is necessary,
the water surface being so disturbed and often so shallow that
the fish is not aware of the angler's approach. Usually the rise
of the fish Is rapid and accurate. It has to be, in swift water,
or the fly gets away from him. He has little chance to look
the offering over before it has floated away. It is surprising
how many good trout, particularly rainbow, will be in these
relatively little-fished portions of the stream.

Quite often these stretches, particularly in the Rockies, oc-
cur in the upper reaches where the stream is bordered by for-
est cover. In this section of the country one is often bothered
by heavy winds that start about eleven o'clock in the morn-
ing. Along the quieter water and the smooth glides in the
meadow country lower down on these rivers, the wind some-
times becomes so strong that it is impossible to control a
cast, while farther upstream, where the timber comes down
to the stream's edge, there is protection from the overhead
wind. I have often taken advantage of this difference and done
my afternoon fishing in these protected portions where nature
has deposited the large boulders and rocks in the upper reaches.
Pocket fishing can be great fun.

The dry fly must, of course, be dressed with some prepara-
tion to keep it floating. Many formulas are in use. Melted
paraffin in benzine or in carbon tetrachloride is good. One
part of paraffin to four parts of solvent is recommended. The
new silicone preparations are excellent. One advantage of the
silicone is that it is not necessary always to clean off the fly
after a fish has mouthed it. With the other paraffin or oil
preparations, the fly usually must be washed off, dried, and
given a fresh application. It all takes time away from your
casting, but let it be said that it is absolutely necessary to have

sj 2 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

a fly float high and not become bogged down because it has
not been properly dried and anointed with the floating com-
pound.

Up to this point I have described equipment that might be
called essential, viz., rod, reel, line, leaders, and flies. These one
must have they are the very minimum items. The equip-
ment that follows might be classed as not strictly essential,
although for the dry-fly fisherman, it would probably fall into
the category of necessities. There are probably many other
items that the "purist" would add to his list, the number
being unlimited.

WADERS

Next in importance on the list would probably be waders.
There are two types: the regulation hip boot and the breast
wader, which protects up to the chest. The hip boot needs no
explanation.

There are two types of breast waders: the boot-foot and
the stocking-foot. In the boot-foot, the wader is attached di-
rectly to the footgear and is all in one piece. The stocking-
foot wader is worn only with a wading shoe, or brogue, espe-
cially constructed for this use. The stocking-foot wader is
built entirely of the same material. It is worn with an inside
heavy wool sock as well as a heavy sock which is pulled on over
the stocking foot before the wading shoe is put on. This over-
sock is used merely to protect the rubberized cloth from ex-
cessive wear.

On any type of wader the regulation rubber sole of the boot-
type wader and the rubber boot can be extremely slippery.
Both can be obtained with felt outer soles which, under most
conditions, are quite skidproof . On the brogue or wading shoe,
some fishermen use soft iron calks, while others prefer the
felt. On rocks covered with moss and on smooth ledge rock,
probably the calks are better, since they will cut through
the moss and will cling to smooth, water-worn ledge rock. It
is a matter of preference, but felt or calks are of great help
in wading streams that are swift and filled with slippery stones.

Equipment go

Whether or not to use the boot or the wader depends, of
course, on the size and depth of stream you are going to fish.

A few years before the war there was on the market a felt-
soled sandal that could be laced on over the boot sole. I used
these sandals with success and liked them because on the long
walk home, or to the car, they could be taken off and carried
by hand. The felt wears out fast enough without unnecessary
abrasion on a paved highway or over the rocky shores of a
stream. Up to the present time these sandals have not come
back on the market.

LANDING NETS

A landing net is absolutely necessary if you are going
to keep your fish and wish to be reasonably certain that you are
not going to lose them after playing them to a finish. With
light tackle it is almost impossible literally to lift a trout from
the water. It took me years finally to discover the best location
in which to carry the net (see illustration between pages 134
135). I have tried all methods, but the one I like best is simply
to hang it down my back on a rawhide thong. By sewing one
end of the thong on your fishing jacket and fastening a harness
ring on the other end, you make it easy to reach over your shoul-
der when the fish is ready and get the net into action without
loss of critical time. A French snap the type you find on a
dog leash fastened to the handle permits release of the net
by merely pressing on the sides of the snap.

Avoid the variety of net that has attached to it a long elas-
tic cord. I have tried this and place the device in the "deadly-
weapon" class. On one occasion when I was walking through
the brush, the net caught over a short, dead stub. I kept on
walking, and at the point where the rubber cord had just
about reached the elastic limit, the net pulled loose from
the stub. The net came flying through the air with the speed
of a bullet. It connected butt end first with my ci funny bone,"
thereby ruining a perfectly good casting arm for the rest of
the day.

34 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

*

CREELS

One needs a creel, and so far I have found no satisfactory
substitute for the willow or wicker creel. It has the necessary
ventilation to keep the fish in fair condition during the day.
In this connection, if you can spare the time, it is wise to clean
your fish as soon after catching as possible. It is better to wipe
them dry after cleaning and pack them in ferns, grass, or leaves
in your creel. The proper way would be, undoubtedly, to
wrap them in a cloth, but that is one more item to remember
and to bother with, so I clean them at intervals and wipe them
dry before placing them in the creel. I do not as a rule carry a
creel I find it useful only when I am returning from a trip
and want to bring home a few trout.

CLOTHING

A fishing jacket with plenty of pockets is standard equip-
ment. It should be short so that there are practically no tails
to drag in the water. There is room in the pockets for all
the incidentals which one needs in dry-fly fishing, although
you probably will never find the exact article when you want
it unless you carry a card index! A long pocket with zipper
should be provided across the back for storing your lunch as
well as a lightweight raincoat. The side pockets are handy
for those items which you constantly use while on the stream.
I prefer the sleeveless or vest type because it gives my arms
more freedom as well as being cooler on a warm day. It should
be remembered that, the more subdued the color of your
clothing is, the less reflected light will hit the water from your
wearing apparel. There is nothing more effective in scaring
the fish on a bright day than a white shirt. If the color of your
clothing is forest green or suntan, you will blend in much
more readily with the background.

A manufacturer of sportsmen's outdoor clothing has been
making a pair of fishing trousers with a knitted cuff. These
fit tightly below the knee and eliminate the annoyance of
crowding a full-length pants leg into a rubber boot.

Equipment 5

FLY BOXES AND OTHER SMALL EQUIPMENT

As for flies, I always carry an assortment in various sizes.
Usually these are In a plastic box with compartments. There
is a fly box of plastic that can be hung on the outside of the
jacket. It is round in shape, with various compartments that
can be brought to an opening by rotating the box. Inasmuch
as all these fly boxes are transparent, the contents are visible
without opening. The advantage of the rotating type is that
only one compartment is opened at a time a distinct advan-
tage in a high wind, when to raise the lid of the other type
of box exposes all the flies, which may end up over in the next
county if the wind happens to blow particularly strong at
that time. The only disadvantage to the box you attach to the
outside of your jacket is that it has a habit of catching the
sun's rays and at times reflecting them into the water, thereby
causing one more hazard in your fishing. Of course, you can
carry the box in the pocket, but very few do that.

The Orvis Rod people of Manchester, Vermont, have
patented a magnetic fly box, which I have been using of late
and which has proved its worth many times over. In this box
are a series of small, permanent magnets to which the flies will
cling in the strongest wind. Once you have had your in-
vestment in choice dry flies literally blown all over the scenery,
you will probably welcome this type of box.

To continue with the contents of those fishing-jacket pock-
ets: fly and line dressings will be needed. There are many
brands and types of fly dressings on the market. I made my
own up to a year or so ago, when I switched to a silicone
product. For years I used a solution of one part melted paraffin
to four parts benzine or carbon tetrachloride. A small bottle
with a camel's-hair brush attached to the cork, the bottle be-
ing hung by a rawhide thong to one of the jacket buttons,
served the purpose. The line dressing is supplied in flat tin
cans which can be carried in the pocket. There are many
brands: my preference is the often used English "Mucilin,"
heretofore mentioned.

3 6 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

A leader box fitted with felt pads which can be moistened
is necessary, particularly if you are to use the silkworm gut
leader. This type of leader must be soaked before using. A
good solution for this is made of about one part glycerine and
five parts water. Put a pinch of baking soda in it it will help
keep the pads from becoming sour. Soak your leaders all night
if possible, and transfer them to the leader box in the morn-
ing when you leave for your fishing.

A small pair of round-nose scissors attached to a thong and
placed in the breast pocket will be found most useful for clip-
ping off excess hackle on overly tied flies or for clipping off
ends of leaders. An ordinary nail clip is helpful on the leader
ends. If there is anything more annoying on the stream than
to find the eye of a fly filled with dried varnish or lacquer
when you try to push the end of the leader through the eye,
then I do not know of it. It is usually the little things that can
be avoided by the manufacturer that cause annoyance and
exasperate the fisherman. An ordinary safety pin with the point
honed down to needle sharpness is useful on this fly with the
closed eye. When not in use, it can be pinned on the jacket.
If you so wish, you can stick a stream thermometer in your
shirt pocket. It is always interesting to see if the water tempera-
ture is conducive to fishing, and bywatching the temperature
rise and fall during the day to correlate your success with
the stream temperature. A small hook hone is useful to sharpen
the hook point if you dull it against a rock in casting. The
small manicure emery boards obtainable at any drugstore will
do the work.

Having a few pieces of facial tissue on which to dry your
fly at times is better than trying to dry the fly on a handker-
chief. Mine always gets caught on it. Sun glasses that polarize
the light are most convenient when the sun gets to a point
where you are facing into it, as well as enabling you to see what
goes on under the water. It is surprising what things you can see
with them that ordinarily are not visible under water. Caps
with long peaks under which these sun glasses are hinged so
that they may be dropped down into position when needed,

Equipment 37

or folded up under the peak when they are not, can now be
purchased. The glasses are of plastic and nonbreakable.

If you wish to carry a small ruler for measuring your fish,
it may help you to stick strictly to facts particularly in your
own mind anyway when you tell your friends next winter
about the big trout you took on "Prevaricator's Creek." A
small pair of spring scales will also help in the same way.

One last thing. I always carry in the back of my jacket a
snake-bite preventative. (Please don't get me wrong, boys!)
It consists of the suction-type kit. I fish much of the South-
west, where rattlesnakes abound, and although I have killed
my share of them, I have never, nor have any of my fishermen
friends, been bitten. I hope I may never have to use this out-
fit, but I know that if it is needed, it may be the means of
saving a life, so when I am fishing in rattlesnake country the
kit is always with me. You may use your own judgment in this
regard.

That about covers it, and what a formidable list it really is!

(Casting ana i^/Le

INASMUCH as this is a book for the beginner, nothing will be
taken for granted. Fly casting, to many, has been surrounded
by considerable mystery and "hocus-pocus." Often a beginner
is scared away from taking up fly casting because he fears that
he does not have the capacity to learn. This should not be the
case, as it is relatively simple. Anyone who is in possession of
his or her normal physical endowments can learn the rudi-
ments in a short time.

We start with the line extended on the water in front of
us. In order to get It out there In the first place, the beginner,
by trial, extends it at least one or two rod lengths without
serious trouble. The casting itself consists of four phases. Con-
sider the caster standing with his right side against a wall, as-
suming, of course, that he is right-handed; If left-handed, with
his left side against the wall. Suppose that directly to his side
on the wall there has been painted a clock with hour nu-
merals, its diameter being approximately 8 feet, with its cen-
ter at the height of the caster's eye. In casting, then, we will
consider the rod at its various positions to be Indicated by
the numerals on the clock. When the rod is held vertical, its
position will be spoken of as at twelve o'clock with the caster's
hand at the center of the circle.

Taking phase i, the rod is held at the ten-o'clock position.
Power is now applied to the rod by the caster's hand so that
the rod is brought quickly to the twelve-o'clock position, where

^ , w ', -, -, f 4
4>^v^^,^*

The meadow portion of the stream. Here are the deep pools and runs with undercut banks where
a mammoth trout may be lurking to take your fly. Sun Valley Photograph

Leader shadow (note the leader on the surface, the broken shadow on bottom of stream) may
easily scare any self -respecting trout.

The Upper Owens River of California. A meandering stream with deep undercut banks. A rough
duplication of nature brought the author big dividends here. Joe Mean Photograph

Silver Creek Idaho, a famous dry-fly stream. The chances of interesting a trout with a dry fly are
immeasurably better when there is 'a slight ripple on the water. Sun Valley Photograph

v ^>l^^\^:-^ |! '' ; :

,;*-

Casting and Retrieving 39

it is checked in its path. If the fly caster will try here to lift
the line and fly suddenly and mentally aim for the sky directly
overhead, it may save him a lot of future trouble. When the
pause is made with the rod held as nearly vertical as possible,
the line will extend itself to the rear.

Phoset

This may be called phase 2. This pause should be only
long enough for the line to straighten out behind the caster.
If the pause is too long, the line and fly will fall to the ground
in the rear, and if too short, the next phase may snap off the
fly.

Phose 2

Just as soon as the line has extended itself in the rear, or
very nearly so, we enter phase 3. This consists of applying
power to the rod so it will assume a forward position and

4<> Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

stopping it at the ten-o'clock position, phase 4. The line will
automatically come forward, and the fly should alight on the
water ahead of the line. Here we have the fundamentals of

Phcse 3

casting. The beginner can turn his head and watch the line,
but after a few trials he becomes conscious of the pull of
the line behind him and starts the forward cast in phase 3 at
the correct instant. Soon the action becomes automatic.

This would be the procedure for wet-fly fishing, but in the
dry-fly we introduce another phase, which is termed "false
casting." Inasmuch as the fly must be dried before it falls on
the water, we check the forward cast as before but start the
backcast before the fly can touch the water. This is done
three or four times so that the fly travels back and forth
through the air, being thoroughly dried as it travels. This also

Casting and Retrieving 41

enables the caster to measure the distance to where he wishes
the fly to fall without its actually touching the water. It also
enables him to cast directly over the spot where he wishes the
fly to alight so that he may be certain his aim is accurate (see
picture facing page 134).

There are a few pointers- that may help the beginner in his
dry-fly casting. He should have his fly alight on the water with
no splash perceptible to the fish. If he will remember one sim-
ple rule, it may enable him to do this. Instead of aiming di-
rectly at the spot he wishes the fly to fall upon, he should re-
member to aim at a point about 2 or 3 feet directly above
the spot. The line can be checked when the fly reaches this
position, and if the casting has been properly executed, the
fly will float down onto the water, followed by the leader
and line, with no apparent effort. If fishing over a feeding fish
that he has seen rise, he should always cast above the trout by
as much as 6 or 8 feet, and never less than 3 feet, so that the
fly may drift over the trout in a manner simulating a natural
insect.

The beginner always has a tendency to make hard work of
his casting. He should remember that the rod will do the
work if given the chance. Practically all the effort is imparted
to the rod by the wrist and forearm alone. I rarely, if ever, use
any more of my arm than this. All my motion is hinged about
the elbow and wrist. Casting with the whole arm up to the
shoulder joint is the surest indication of inexperience on the
part of the fly caster. It used to be said that a book held closely
against the side with the elbow of the casting arm, while the
beginner is learning, would teach, him to use the forearm
alone. It should hardly be necessary to go to this extreme, as
it does preclude some use of the upper arm, which is, after all,
used slightly. As in any other accomplishment, practice will
make perfect or as nearly perfect as a caster can become.

There are many variations of the overhead cast. There are
the side cast, roll cast, steeple cast, and others that the angler
will develop to suit his own convenience. All, however, are
basically related to the one described above. The time comes

42 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

when the fisherman registers in his subconscious mind just
what is going on behind him, what obstacles overhanging
brush, trees, ledges, etc. he has passed a moment before
that may interfere with his backcast, that may be a source of
hazard. It is surprising how soon one can develop accuracy
in his casting how easy it is to put the fly in the spot where
it will be visible to the trout when it floats over the trout's
"window/' which is discussed later (see page 70).

There are many handicaps in fly casting, not the least of
which is a high wind blowing downstream directly into the
face of the caster. Although there are days when we may
literally be blown off the river, yet there are times when the
wind, although interfering decidedly with our efforts, may, to
some extent, be conquered. We find that close to the water
surface the wind is the least severe, and by taking advantage
of this fact and using a side cast, keeping the rod close to
and parallel with the water, we may be able to overcome this
difficulty of casting into a head wind. Then, too, most rivers
have some bank protection which may be used to advantage
by keeping the cast low to the surface. On the smoother waters
we can often know in advance when a sudden wind will reach
us by observing the stream some distance ahead of our posi-
tion. The fisherman, like a man sailing a boat, must watch the
water beyond him. In sudden, intermittent puffs of wind, we
can often hold our cast until the disturbance passes. On windy
days, also, we can still enjoy good fishing by taking advantage
of portions of the stream that are more or less protected by
surrounding hills or heavily timbered areas. I have seen days
of high winds that have proved to be most successful in fill-
ing the creel.

There is a meadow stream in the high country of New
Mexico where, throughout the summer, a small, gray miller
is in evidence over the land surface adjoining the stream. On
windy days these insects are blown onto the water with the
result that the trout become more active than at any other
time. On such days the fishing is at its best. On a stream that
meanders as this one does, it is possible to find stretches of

Casting and Retrieving 43

water where the wind will quarter across the surface. A high
cast will send the fly dancing across stream, being momentarily
lifted from the water in a series of short jumps. This behavior
of the fly on these particular waters interests the trout more
than the orthodox method of floating it over his position.

However, it must be admitted that a high wind is usually
a severe handicap, and on those extremely windy days when
we have to combat a head wind at every cast, much of the fun
of the game is lost. Generally, though, the windiest times come
in the middle of the day. Often by evening the wind will sub-
side, and since that is the time when the trout are usually
most active, we have our reward.

Another handicap is dense, overhanging brush. Many of the
small streams have this condition on portions of the water,
making it impossible to use a fly at all. Ironically, however, it
is this very condition that provides the trout with protection
from one of his worst enemies man. It may mean the salva-
tion of fish life itself.

I have found several small streams not far from the very
heart of one of the big cities, which, though heavily fished,
offer some excellent sport. One of these streams, mentioned
later, is on many portions heavily overgrown with brush con-
sisting principally of poison oak. Now, anyone who has come
in contact with this weed and the discomforts it can cause will
give it a wide berth, thus affording the trout an excellent place
of refuge. These little streams, parts of which are often so
covered, may produce exceptionally good results on the more
open stretches because the cover gives the trout an oppor-
tunity to survive. In the spring of the year when high water
conditions exist, the fish will redistribute themselves through-
out the stream, some remaining in the fishable portions.

When we face upstream and cast a dry fly, we are in a meas-
ure reversing the process of wet-fly fishing. As the fly floats
toward us in its downstream progress, it is necessary to take
in the slack line. The right-handed man will use his left hand
to accomplish this. He will find that his left hand is fully as
busy as his right, if not more so. It is essential, if you are going

44 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

to set the hook in your fish, to keep at all times as little slack
between you and the fly as is possible.

If there is excess slack line on the water, then when a fish
takes the fly and we try to set the hook, we are faced with the
following condition. In applying our strike, a force is trans-
mitted from the fisherman's hand up the rod and down
through the line to the fly which sets the hook in the trout's
mouth. If there is too much slack line lying on the water in
front of us, this force is dissipated In taking up the loose coils
and by overcoming the frictional resistance of the water. By
the time the force reaches the fish, it is insufficient to set the
hook. In addition, the more line there is out, the longer
it takes this force to reach its destination, and if the time is
too long, the trout has the chance to eject the hook before
we can set it. On the other hand, if you overdo it and try to
keep too much slack off the water, you are liable to cause a
slight cross pull or drag on your fly which will scare the fish
and defeat your purpose. The slack line should be taken in
at about the same rate as the rate of float of your fly, but no
faster.

Two methods are used to do this. In one we merely strip in
the line with the left hand and allow the coils to drop in the
water in front of us. The other is to use the left hand and coil
the line inside our palm. Its execution is not so difficult as it
is to describe. Starting with the line held between the thumb
and forefinger of the left hand and with the palm up, you
quickly turn the palm down, at the same time catching the
line which is away from you under the first joints of the other
three fingers. Now quickly turn your palm up, and release your
thumb and forefinger grip. This will form a loop over the
back of the three fingers. Pinch the line coming in through the
rod guides with your forefinger and thumb as you did before.
Draw the other three fingers out of the loop which will fall
into your palrn. Keep repeating this rapidly, and you will find
you can usually keep pace with the speed of the floating fly.
Sometimes the current is too swift for this method, in which

Casting and Retrieving 45

case you must resort to the stripping system. A little practice
on this will soon bring perfection.

Of the two styles, the former is used more often than the
latter. This is particularly true on a long cast because one's
hand is not large enough to hold all the line that is retrieved.
One objection to allowing the line to fall at your feet is that,
when a particularly good trout is hooked, you have to play
the fish with considerable slack from the reel trailing down-
stream in the water. You will find that you can hook the line
under your right forefinger as it grips the rod while you reel
in the slack as rapidly as possible. If the trout makes a sudden
dash, you can keep sufficient tension on your fish by pinching
the line between your thumb and forefinger, at the same time
keeping your grip on the rod. Sometimes it is necessary to
stop reeling in line if the fish makes a run and permit him to
take line directly from the loose coils in front of you. If the
fish is taking line directly from the reel and it does not have
enough resistance in the form of a drag, you can often apply
additional tension by permitting the line to run through
your thumb and forefinger.

Where you coil the line in your hand, it is possible to per-
mit it to run out coil by coil if a big trout takes your fly and
makes a run for it. If you prefer, you can drop the whole hand-
ful of line and then proceed as in the case where the line is
trailing in the water. It is always an advantage to get the slack
line back on the reel just as fast as you can. If you have to chase
your trout downstream when he makes a run, you do not want
any line trailing along behind you where it may get caught
on some obstruction. When the fish wants line, let him take
it off the reel.

If you fish for many hours at a time without resting your
eyes, you may find that the intensity of your watching the
progress of the fly will affect your vision. It does not take place
on the stream, but that evening when you look fixedly at
the floor, you are conscious of a film moving across it. You may
be alarmed the first time or two you experience this phenome-

46 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

non, but it has happened to me so often without ill effect that
I can assure you it should give you no concern.

A point to remember in casting is to "fish out your cast/*
This consists in allowing your fly to remain on the water long
enough to completely cover every possible lie of a trout. It
should float on downstream before you retrieve it. It is always
better to have the fly pass over places where it may have already
floated before than to miss any water. All of us have been
guilty o not adhering to this rule. It is most provoking and
disappointing to lift your fly from the water just as a good fish
rises to it you have started your retrieve, and now it is too
late to check it.

If your fly starts to "drag/* which is explained later, always
permit it to float on down through the run you are fishing. If
you retrieve it before then, the rip of the line as you take it
off the water may scare every fish in the run. This is a good rule
to remember in any case where your cast does not suit you
let it continue through to the lower end of the stretch over
which you are casting.

Once the principles of the cast have been mastered, it is time
to turn attention to trout habits, stream-current vagaries, in-
sect hatches, and all those things that tend to make fishing a
study and a challenge. Trout have the habit of being on the
search for food and ordinarily will feed unless disturbed by
the approach of an enemy. The great bulk of their food is ob-
tained from the bottom of the stream, but when a hatch is on
the water, or a fly properly placed by some fisherman, they will
rise to the surface and forsake, for the time being, their bottom
food supply. I have taken trout that have been so full of under-
water food that I wondered why they ever came to the surface.
If a human being were relatively as full of food as these fish,
he would be unable to take another mouthful yet the trout
never seem to get enough. One man has observed that probably
the rise of a good-sized fish is a waste of energy. The fish prob-
ably burns up more energy than is replaced by the food value
of the fly he takes from the surface. According to this idea, if
the fish fed on surface food solely and if this food supply were

Casting and Retrieving **

constantly available, the fish would, after a period of time,
starve to death. This is not outside the realm of reason, but
inasmuch as there is, on any good stream, an abundance of
bottom food, the trout must be interested in the surface food
because it may be a delicacy rather than a necessity. Anyway,
the dry-fly man has reason to be happy that the trout does seem
to enjoy his surface feeding.

In dry-fly fishing, it becomes necessary for the fisherman to
face upstream, to drop his fly lightly on the surface, and to have
it float toward him in a natural, undisturbed manner. If the
current on any stream were entirely uniform across the whole
surface, that is, from bank to bank, the problem would be
simplicity itself. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The de-
sideratum in dry-fly fishing, as far as the equipment is con-
cerned, is to have four things accomplished: (i) the line must
float, (2) the leader should be submerged below the water sur-
face, (3) the fly must float on top, and (4) the fly should float
with the current with no cross pull on it.

It is easy to float the line and the fly. The leader sometimes
has a tendency to float, but it can be washed off if any grease
or oil is on it. I carry a small piece of soap for this purpose.
Sometimes rubbing the leader with mud will cause it to sink,
or rubbing it with the slime from a trout's side that has already
been caught will help. If the leader is on top of the water, it is
more visible to the fish than when submerged. Often it touches
the water in places. The breaking of the water's surface film
causes a shadow to be thrown on the bottom of the stream as
was mentioned in the chapter on Equipment. These small
indentations of the water surface will also reflect light, often
causing a spectrum a condition which will make the fish
suspicious and "gut shy."

The line can be made to float with no trouble by using a
dressing. It becomes necessary to dress the line several times
a day when fishing, and it is economy of time and effort to do
just this and not wait until the line becomes waterlogged. The
fly itself can be treated with the preparations made for that
purpose. Many of the preparations must be renewed on the

48 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

fly after each fish is taken. The fly should be thoroughly washed
off, dried in the air by false casting, and the preparation then
applied. The newer silicone products, previously mentioned,
have proved quite satisfactory for fly dressings. It is not neces-
sary to dress the fly as often when using the silicone product.
When the fly is cast on the water, it is attached to the fisher-
man by the leader, the line, and the rod. In this respect it
differs from the natural fly, free to float as it may. If the line
is cast across swifter water than where the fly is floating on the
far side of the current, the fly will naturally move more slowly
than the line on the swifter current. Very soon the line will
start pulling the fly across the current. This phenomenon is
universally known to the fisherman as "drag." That one word
is the bugbear of every dry-fly man. Drag immediately defeats
the objective we are trying to attain. Any self-respecting trout
knows that no natural fly will play such a trick and conse-
quently is suspicious and will not rise to the offering. There
are many ways to defeat this drag, some of which, shown in the
accompanying diagrams, may need explanation.

(a)

Drag

Length of arrows indicates relative water surface velocities

Solid lines indicate only those portions of line and leader in contact with the water

Dotted lines indicate ultimate position of line and leader

Reference to diagrams (a) to (c) will indicate three typical
cases. A in every case represents the position of the fisherman,
B that of the trout, and C where the fly will drop. The arrows
represent relative velocities of the surface current. It is always

Casting and Retrieving 49

wise to drop the fly some 3 or 4 feet above the feeding fish so
that it may float down with the current over the spot where
he is most likely to rise. Diagram (a) represents the straight-
away stream with a uniform current. This presents no great
difficulties, as the fly will be dropped at G, and the leader and
the position of the line on the water will move at a uniform
rate. In (b) we have a much more complex problem. There is a
sharp bend in the stream, and naturally the current will be
swifter on the side where the fish is located. Here if the line
and leader are placed as in (a), by the time the fly is expected
to reach the fish, it will be pulled out into the current and
pass considerably to the left of him. The same condition will
hold in diagram (c), even though the bend of the stream is re-
versed. To overcome this difficulty, the expert has developed
what he calls a "loop cast." In (b) there has been thrown a
downstream loop with some slack line and leader. The current
against the bank is much swifter than in the center of the
stream; therefore, the fly will travel faster. The loop then per-
mits enough leeway so that the fly will float directly down over
the fish without any side pull while the loop is straightening
out. In (c) the situation is reversed, and the fisherman throws
an upstream loop so that by the time the fly reaches the fish, the
line and leader will have straightened out, as is indicated by
the small dotted line.

In this connection it might be said that in diagram (c) the
most probable place for a trout would be at JD. However, at
times one finds a good fish in the quieter water, particularly
if there is an overhanging bush or cover such as is indicated
in the drawing. In fishing the water at D, it would be much
better if one were to move over to the other side of the stream
and fish from the opposite bank. Were he to cast from A, as
shown in the drawing, for trout at D, he would "line" the fish.
This simply means that there would be no way of placing the
fly over the fish without either the line or the leader first pass-
ing over the trout. Such an effect almost invariably scares the
fish or "puts him down/*

The loop casts are not too difficult to learn. One method of

PJO Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

casting the upstream loop from the right-hand bank of the
stream (if the fisherman is right-handed) is as follows: Make
the cast as the usual side cast is made, this being simply one
made with the rod held horizontal and parallel with the water
surface. Just as the cast is completed and the fly about at its
terminal position over the water, the line is quickly checked
with the left hand and the rod tip brought slightly back from
its most forward position. This action will throw an upstream
loop in the leader.

I have the best success in throwing a downstream loop by
making the same cast as the upstream, only making the entire
cast backhanded. The rod is held horizontal, but instead of
casting back to the right, one holds the rod across the front
of the body with the rod tip facing to the left. The cast is
then made across the front of the body, and the checking of
the line and the rod tip's being brought back, as described in
the upstream loop, will throw a downstream loop in the leader.

The slack-line cast is relatively easy to accomplish. It may
be made by the overhead casting procedure, but at the end of
the cast one again throws the rod tip forward, at the same time
releasing the line with the left hand, throwing an excessive
amount of line ahead which will lie on the water in a series
of slack loops.

Some practice is necessary in these casts to attain perfection,
particularly to get any degree of accuracy in placing the fly
where it is intended to go. As one fishes, he acquires the nec-
essary skills on these casts to make them fully effective. After
all, it is practice that makes perfect after the rudiments are
learned. These techniques may possibly sound difficult, but
in reality they are not. Practice on the lawn or, if possible, on
a casting or swimming pool to get the full effect of water con-
ditions.

The roll cast is useful when the angler stands with his back
close to a ledge or some other obstruction. It is the most simple
of any of the special casts. It is accomplished as follows: "With
the line extended in front of him and lying on the water, the
caster slowly raises the rod tip to the vertical position, draw-

Casting and Retrieving 51

ing the line toward him. When the rod tip is vertical, the line
will fall from the rod tip to his feet, and a portion of it will
extend out in front of him. Now let him bring the rod quickly
and suddenly down to the horizontal. The line will roll out in
front of him, and the leader and fly will straighten out as
though the cast had been made in the usual manner.

a

HOOKING a trout when it takes the dry fly Is fully as important
as being able to interest him in taking your offering. It is an
entirely different procedure from setting the hook in wet-fly
fishing. You may have done all your fly-fishing with the wet
variety and may want to try the dry-fly method. If your fishing
has been with the wet fly, then you know that setting the hook
in the fish was done by the sense of touch. Your line from the
rod tip to your leader and fly has been quite taut. When a fish
struck your fly, you felt a sharp, quick tug. You schooled your-
self to such an extent that your strike was merely a matter of
coordinating your reflexes so that your hand automatically
set the fly.

Hooking the fish that rises to your floater is an entirely dif-
ferent procedure. Before the fly drops on the water from your
cast, your eyes are glued to the spot where you know it will
alight. From this point on and until the moment you lift it
from the water, your eyes are constantly on it. You do not dare
take them from it for even a split second. Should you do this,
it is possible that the prize fish of the day may take it, and you
miss the opportunity for which you have been working so hard.
The time to glance upstream or elsewhere is while you are
false casting then with the fly in the air there is no chance of
missing a rise. This is when you can look ahead over the water
52

Hooking, Playing, Landing, Killing, and Wading 55

you are about to fish to see if any trout are feeding on natural
insects.

Trout are temperamental. Sometimes they rise to a dry fly
with great rapidity, other times very deliberately. When they
"take," they usually cause a swirl; sometimes it is a heavy one
and sometimes just a dimple on the surface. Whether it is one
or the other, you should strike at the very instant the fly goes
under.

Several things often happen on the strike. One is that you
may hit too hard, with the result that, if it is a good fish, the
very resistance of its weight will cause the fly to pop off in the
fish's mouth. Another is that, if you strike too suddenly and
with a quick motion, you may pull the fly away from the trout
before he has a chance t take it. If you wait too long, then the
fish has a chance to mouth the fly and discovers it to be a fake
and immediately spits it out. All of us have done these things
much to our disgust. Perfection in striking is a matter o
timing more often than not our timing is correct. If it is,
you experience quite a satisfaction when you feel the hook
go home in a good-sized fish. Two things are to be remem-
bered: one, little fish are as a rule mu: h faster on the take than
the large ones; two, a big trout is slower. He looks over your
presentation and may follow it a long way, taking his time at
it. His strike at the fly is usually just as deliberate as his ap-
proach to inspect it.

Many trout are lost by unskillful handling once they are
hooked. The criterion in this connection can briefly be stated
in the old saying, "Make haste slowly." Once the fish is hooked,
he cannot be hurried beyond a certain point. Sooner or later
he will give in, if the proper tension is applied to the rod and
if the fly does not work loose. It should be remembered that
it is the rod that finally exhausts the fish. If the rod is held
as nearly vertical as possible; and the fish permitted to work
against the spring of it, he will tire much more quickly than
if the rod is not held in this position.

If the fish wants to make a run, let him go but try to keep
tension applied to the line. One discovers after several trials

54 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

just how much tension may be applied to his tackle without its
parting at some point. The only time you should ever point
the tip of the rod at the fish is when you wish to break off the
fly. There are times when you may be unable to follow a big
trout downstream through the rapid current. Your path may
be blocked by some obstacle, and your line is rapidly melting
off the reel. If it comes to the end, something must break. Your
only alternative in a situation of this kind is to point the rod
tip at the fish and hope the weakest link will be where the fly
Is tied onto the leader. It may save a broken rod tip to do this,
or it may save a tapered line. The so-called "tackle busters" in
the trout family may contribute to smashed rods, but the real
reason for rod damage is usually the way the fisherman handles
the situation.

It is often quite possible to turn a fish away from an obstruc-
tion or to keep him from seeking cover under an overhanging
bank or a sunken log if he is not too large or if he is in the final
stages of the battle. In order to do this, it sometimes becomes
necessary to hold the rod in a horizontal position parallel with
the water. The rod should be held at right angles to the direc-
tion of the fish's path. In this way, the trout is again forced to
fight the spring of the rod, which in turn will finally tire him
out.

In order to subdue a big trout, it becomes necessary to keep
him moving. Once he has a chance to rest, he may start the
fight all over again. Usually, tension steadily applied to the
rod will keep the fish stirring, although sometimes the big
ones will go to the bottom and sulk. They can, at times, be
moved by tapping the butt of the rod with the other hand,
thereby telegraphing a vibration to them. But even this
method may fail, and then the only thing to do is to
keep a taut line sooner or later the fish will start to move
again.

I endeavor to finish the battle just as soon as possible with-
out hurrying the fight to the point where there is danger of
pulling out a fly or breaking a leader. One soon learns just
how much strain the outfit will take without breaking. As

Hooking, Playing, Landing, Killing, and Wading 55

soon as the fish is subdued If It is to be kept it should be
killed and not be permitted to die slowly in the creeL

In taking a large trout, it is often expedient, soon after he
is hooked, to look around for some suitable place to land him.
Quite often it is necessary to work him downstream in search
of quieter water into which he may be led to finish the battle.
Last summer I hooked into a large rainbow in very swift water.
There was no place along the edge of the current where it was
quiescent enough to land the fish. It was impossible to exert
enough pressure on the tackle to hold the trout in the current
long enough to bring it to net. I realized this soon after the
fish was hooked. My only salvation was to exert just enough
pressure to make the fish work while he was slowly being led
downstream into a pool a quarter of a mile below, at which
place he was finally netted.

One of the advantages of dry-fly fishing is that you always
cover first the stream below where the fish is hooked, and after
some experience you photograph on your mind the character
of the water you have passed over for possible use in such
cases. These rainbows have the habit of often taking you down-
river. You cannot do anything about it but follow.

In playing a fish of any size, it is always advisable to keep
him above you, where you are pulling the hook against the
trout rather than away from it. However, there are times, try
as you may, when this cannot be done. You are more the master
of the situation if you are below your quarry, while, if the
positions are reversed, the odds are far more in favor of the
trout. At the critical moment when the fish turns up on top
of the water, or broaches, be ready with the net. It should al-
ready have been released and passed through the water so as
to thoroughly wet it, thereby causing the meshes to sink.

Try always to net a big trout headfirst. It is surprising how,
just as you are ready to net him, he will make one last desperate
effort to escape. If you have him tailfirst part way in the net,
he may, in his last struggle, break loose, while if he is pointed
headfirst there is only one way for him to go, and that is deeper
into the net.

^6 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

You may, on a very rare occasion It has happened only
three times to me tie into a mammoth trout and much to
your consternation find that the fish is too big to go into the
net. Here, indeed, is a situation that was unforeseen when you
bought your landing net. This is where the fish should have
been worked gently into quieter and more shallow water, if
possible. The only solution to this problem is to play the fish
to a point where it turns over on its side, then gently slip your
thumb and finger under opposite sides of its gills, bring them
together, and lift it clear of the water. Get to shore, if you are
in the stream, as fast as you can without slipping and falling in
yourself. Then holler for your friends to come and have a
look.

You simply cannot hurry a trout of this size. You just have
to keep him working, with the hope that the tackle will hold
and that the hook will not finally work a cavity in the fish's
mouth and pull out. The minutes se'em like hours, but finally
the time comes when he will roll up to the top and give you
the opportunity to gill him. Do not lose any time, for soon he
will become rested and swim away, and you may not have
another opportunity to take him out of the water.

This matter of netting a good fish always sounds easy, but
even the best of fishermen sometimes foul it up. Two or
three summers ago a friend of mine and I were fishing the
Madison below Hebgen Lake the day before we were to re-
turn home (see picture between pages 134 and 135). We were
saving our fish on this last day to bring back with us after
freezing them that night.

My companion, Reaford Haney, hooked a large trout and
had his hands full in playing it. The stream here, when water
is being released from the lake, is swift and powerful, giving
the trout, when hooked, more than an even chance of getting
away. There was no opportunity of leading this large fish into
quieter water there just was no quiet water. So it became
necessary to play him in the swift current of the river with the
hope that he would not pull loose.

My friend did an excellent job of playing the trout, which

Hooking, Playing, Landing, Killi?2g, and Wading 57

kept the fight about 50 or 60 feet away from him downstream.
He called to me to come with my net and give him a hand in
landing it. I took my stance in the very swift water a few feet
below the trout, which finally gave up the fight. The current
was so powerful that it was practically impossible to push the
net up through the foot or so of water that was between it and
the fish. My friend released the pressure. I made a desperate
attempt at netting but only succeeded in lifting the fish bodily
from the stream, to have it fall off the net. I had literally
knocked the trout off the hook for my friend. Here was a per-
fect illustration of a man w y ho has netted, with more or less
success, his fair share of trout, bungling a job for his best
friend. To this day I have not heard the last of it.

My advice on netting would be: take your time, don't hurry!
If possible, net the fish head on when the current permits. If
the water is too swift to get the net upstream from the trout,
then, when your fish is spent, you can often let the current
float him over the net, then raise the net with the fish clear of
the water.

We sometimes become overanxious in our fishing, and al-
though this tendency may not have any bearing on playing
and netting, it is worthy of mention at this point. M any of
my fishermen friends have told me, and I, myself, have had
the same experience, of being too anxious to get their fish,
thereby ruining a day's sport. It generally happens the last
day you are on a stream, when you want to keep your trout to
take home with you. Time and time again I have gone out day
after day and enjoyed good fishing, only to find that on the
last day, when I really wanted to keep my trout, I would have
the poorest luck of the trip.

Why is this? Probably overanxiety on the part of the fisher-
man. Maybe he is working against time and loses his deliber-
ate approach, and in his desire to take fish, his timing suffers.
It is a sport that you cannot hurry; it is essential that the
fisherman have no feeling of being pressed. It is always better
not to be working against time, not to have to be back at the
car at a definite minute. One's mental attitude enters into

58 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

this game just as much as it does into golf, tennis, bowling, or
any other sport. Here again, psychology plays its part. Take
it easy, relax, take your time, and the results you obtain will
prove that it pays dividends.

An excellent illustration of losing a fish by not observing
this precaution happened a few years ago on a Colorado stream.
There were four of us camped on one of the most beautiful
rivers of the Rockies. We were removed from any place of
habitation, and all the fish, except those we used for our own
eating, were returned to the stream.

Inasmuch as the stream flowed through a deep canyon, there
was not much activity on the part of the rainbows until around
ten o'clock in the morning, when the water had warmed up.
The life was ideal. We would eat a leisurely breakfast around
nine, clean up camp, and start our fishing about an hour later.
We would fish through until about three o'clock in the after-
noon, return to camp, prepare our big meal of the day, and
often return to the river for an hour or two before dusk, after
which we would return to camp, build a fire, and sit around
until ten before crawling into our sleeping bags. It was good
fishing, with just enough work involved to make it interesting.
We had reached the point where we carried no creels and
quite often no nets. It did not matter too much whether or not
we landed our fish.

One evening we went out again as usual, and two of my
companions worked a deep run that cut into a high bank,
forming a deep, swift, mysterious-looking lie for a big fish.
We had never taken any large trout from this spot, but we all
felt that it must contain a fish of sizable proportions. There
had been a good hatch and the rainbows were working well,
when one of the men, Harold Novis, hooked into something
that made him yell to his companion. The fight was terrific
because of the swift current. After some minutes the big fish
was worked downstream into a quieter run and for the first
time came into view. It was truly the largest fish of the two
weeks* trip.

What to do in a case like this? The fisherman came to the

Hooking, Playing, Landing, Killing, and Wading 59

conclusion that the best procedure was to have his friend gill
the trout when it finally surfaced. So his companion took his
position in the stream at the most advantageous point, where
the pool shallowed off at the lower end. As he stood there wait-
ing, the fish suddenly made a dash downstream, going between
his wide-apart feet. There he was straddling the leader, and
in his attempt to step over it, he slipped and stepped on it,
giving the fish the opportunity to come taut against the leader.
The fly broke off, and the trout went on down the river. Prob-
ably, had our friend stood with his feet close together, the
fish would have passed to one side or the other of him and
could have been subdued farther down the stream.

Whether it is a trout or some warm-blooded animal, when
we kill we should make the act as quick and as humane as
possible. The most brutal and inhumane method is to un-
hook your fish, place it alive in your creel, and permit it to
die slowly. A trout subjected to such treatment literally smoth-
ers to death.

It is a simple matter to kill your catch. If the fish Is small
not over 10 Inches you may place your thumb in its mouth
and with a sudden bending back of Its head by the thumb,
break its neck. If you land your fish along a rock-strewn shore,
then when you unhook it, hit its head against the nearest rock.
My method Is different from most methods. I always carry a
jackknife in my pocket, and before unhooking my trout I hit
it over the head with the closed knife. It is a modification of
the method used by our English cousins who carry a "priest"
or small blackjack with which to make their kill. With a very
large trout it is a simple matter to stick the point of the knife
blade into the place where the head joins the body and in-
stantly sever the backbone. If it is a fish you really w T ant to
keep, it sometimes pays to wade ashore before you take it out
of the net in order to kill it. Too many fish have slipped out
of my hands in the middle of a stream and have fallen back
into the water for me to take any chances on killing a large fish
while standing in the middle of a stream.

Anyone who has ever caught a trout probably has no trouble

6o Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

unhooking his fish. It is the easiest phase of the whole game.
If you expect to keep your fish, it is just as well to kill it be-
fore you unhook it. The reasons are quite obvious; it will not
fight against your hand. The process causes no pain, and if
you should drop your trout into the stream, it cannot swim
away.

To unhook your trout, you simply hold it in your left hand
with the head facing forward. You grasp it right back of the
gill covers and with the right hand catch the fly between your
thumb and finger and unhook it with a sharp tug.

With a dry fly your fish is rarely hooked very deep, and if you
wish to return it alive to the stream, be as gentle as possible in
the operation. Some of the ardent purists carry a small pair of
pliers and never touch their fish when it is lip-hooked. They
merely hold the leader close to the fly with one hand, while
with the other they grasp the pliers and with a quick under-
water motion unhook the trout without ever touching it.

If your fishing technique gets too expert, then you can file
the barb off the hook. In order to land a trout with one of these
hooks, you need a tight line every second the fish is on your fly.
A release of tension, and the trout is gone. There are those of
us who really do use barbless hooks once in a while!

If you are wading as you advance upstream, try to wade as
quietly as possible. Your progress should be more of a gliding
motion than a walking one. You feel out your course by gently
shifting your feet and not by raising them and stepping up and
down. To do the latter will set up a vibration that may scare
the fish. Sound which originates underwater is transmitted un-
derwater to the trout.

It is not absolutely necessary to refrain from talking. Trout
are not too readily disturbed by a conversation carried on in
our world of air and sunshine. It is walking along a meadow
bank, kicking of underwater stones, or the careless approach to
the stream that sets up the vibration waves which reach the fish
and send them to cover.

Much discussion takes place among the fishing fraternity as
to the relative merits of fishing from the shore or bank or from

Hooking, Playing, Landing, Killing, and Wading 61

the stream itself. On the smaller streams It is undoubtedly
better to stay out of the water as much as possible. However, if
the banks are high, one must watch his approach to a particu-
lar run. Visibility of the fisherman here enters the picture. The
lower he is, the less liable he is to be seen by the trout. On the
larger streams and rivers there is often no other way to fish
effectively but to wade the stream. Many of the "hot spots'* will
be over by the far bank, too far away from the fisherman for
him to make a delicate and effective cast. Here one is far
enough away from his trout so that there should be no dis-
turbance of its normal activity. Then, too, there are streams
where the banks are so thickly overgrown with vegetation that
it is impossible to make a cast without being in the stream it-
self.

J 7
ea &g

THE LEGENDARY country boy with the bent pin and the willow
pole, which he cut from a bush along the creek that flows
through his farm, showing up the city sportsman with his ex-
pensive tackle on the hard-fished streams of America has long
ceased to exist. In fact, this small boy probably never did have
much success. He served and still does serve a useful purpose in
the comic strips and on some of the calendar pictures.

The man who has studied his subject or hobby and who has
practiced and worked over every phase of It and who can put
these practices to work is the man in whom you will place your
faith, not the small boy who knows practically nothing of the
habits of trout nor has any knowledge of the various scientific
elements that fit into the picture. You have probably encoun-
tered many different types of fishermen, and among your fisher-
men friends, you will remember there is undoubtedly one of
them who will consistently bring in fish. His rod may be no
better than the other man's, nor can you see that his casting is
superior to that of many others. Yet this fellow invariably out-
does his companions when it comes to catching trout. His com-
panions wonder how he does it.

Here, undoubtedly, is a man who has in his leisure moments
studied the dry-fly techniques from every angle. He has devoted
much time to close observation of all the factors which contrib-
ute to success. You hear him talk about insect life the dif-
6s

The Part Played by the Sciences 63

f erent species of insects, the time of year they are in evidence,
their life cycle, and their artificial imitations. He has studied
the streams, and although he may not be an expert hydraulic
engineer, he knows stream currents and velocities. He can tell
by looking at the stream surface just where there may be a prob-
able lie for a good fish. He may be short on the underlying
theories of stream flow, but he is long on applied hydraulics,
with its application to trout fishing in particular.

His friends may think that all he knows about optics is
limited to what he sees through his bifocals, but they might be
surprised to learn he has made a careful study of what the trout
.sees of our world of air and sunshine from its underwater
domain. From his knowledge of optics, this man knows just
how to approach a feeding fish so he will not be visible to his
quarry. He can blend in with the scenery in order to camou-
flage his actions. He may not know exactly how many vibra-
tions per second the impact of his booted feet may produce, but
he does know the trout are extremely sensitive to any vibra-
tions, and consequently he is careful to enter with caution the
run he wishes to fish. He is unconsciously applying some of the
fundamental laws of physics.

His knowledge of chemistry may be limited to the fact that
baking soda may neutralize his acid stomach induced by an
overindulgence in hotcakes and syrup before he took to the
stream that morning. However, he will carry a stream ther-
mometer, and when the temperature rises beyond a certain
point, he knows the oxygen content of the water will be less and
probably the fish will be found near the cold-spring runs. He
could not give you the chemical formula for many of his line
and fly dressings, but he is aware of the fact that they are some
of the most useful accessories in his equipment. Maybe he can-
not tell you that his nylon line or leader is merely a certain
chemical product from coal, steam, and air. Neither could
women for that matter give you this information about their
nylon stockings, but this man knows that these products of
chemistry are excellent substitutes for the silkworms' efforts.

When it comes to psychology, he undoubtedly will admit
that all dry-fly purists need the attention of a psychiatrist, in-

64 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

eluding himself, but he is too busy with his sport ever to con-
sult one. His mental attitude will play an important part in his
success. His perseverance, of which he has an abundance, his
patience, his mental processes which will enable him to get
the trout's view of his offerings, will help to fill his creeL He
has a keen perception, his reactions are quick, he sees many
things that the less experienced fisherman misses, all of which
contribute to the enjoyment of the sport.

All these factors, together with many others, may readily
be classed under the heading of the part played by the sciences.
Let us take them one by one and look into their relation and
application to dry-fly fishing.

ENTOMOLOGY

The entomology of the subject is fascinating. One who has
never had the cycle of life of the common stream insect brought
to his attention has missed one of the most interesting things
in trout fishing. Briefly, it is about as follows: In its initial state
an insect is a larva. Grubs and caterpillars, for instance, are
larvae. From the larva stage, the insect passes into the pupa
and last to the imago, or fully developed insect. A pupa may
be likened to the caterpillar and the imago to the butterfly.
In so far as it affects the trout fisherman, the metamorphosis
is as folloitfs: The female fly deposits its egg on or in the water
of the stream; in turn the egg sinks to the bottom and hatches
into the larva, which in the pupa stage may or may not incase
itself in a covering attached to a stone, log or twig on the stream
bottom. In the course of time, usually anywhere from one to
three years, certain physical changes take place, until finally
the insect is ready to dispense with its covering, rises to the
surface, and takes to the air. The imitation of this rising nymph
from the stream bottom is the common, artificial wet fly,

After the natural nymph reaches the surface, its wings un-
fold, and it flies away, a fully developed insect. Before flying
from the water, it often rides along the surface while the wings
are drying and developing. It is at this stage that the trout
fisherman imitates the natural with his floating dry fly. This

The Part Played by the Sciences 65

word "imitates" sounds exceedingly simple, but so many
things actually come into account that effective imitation is
the most difficult thing the dry-fly fisherman has to contend
with. Many factors are involved, such as stream currents and
drag, which will be taken up a little later.

When this phenomenon is taking place when new life is
being born, the nymphs are rising to the surface, and the fully
developed insect is floating on the water the fisherman speaks
of a "hatch." It is his greatest wish, when he is on the stream,
that a hatch may develop. Naturally, this is the time that the
trout are on the prowl for food. If he can imitate this hatch
and simulate its performance, then his chances of good fishing
are at a peak. It is this achievement that he has been working
toward; it is this hatch that he has been hoping for all day,
Let it not be taken for granted that a hatch occurs only in the
evening hours. It may come on at any time of day, although
evening, and particularly the hour before dusk, is usually the
most probable time. How often I have heard the angler say,
"I will go out around four o'clock, so as to be there for the
evening hatch."

I have stood beside the pool of one of my favorite streams in
the Catskills of New York of an evening and have seen liter-
ally hundreds of insects emerging from the surface of the
water. So many have been in the air at a time that it was possible
to catch some of them in one's hand; one could examine the
sample and frantically search through his fly box in hopes of
findino- a correct imitation of a natural. This hatch of flies, as
they come off the surface of the water, is one of nature's most
interesting phenomena.

We find that on the Eastern streams the "May-fly" season
is at its height somewhere from the middle of May until the
middle of June. No definite time can be set, however, for this
peak. Much depends on seasonal conditions. Sometimes the
season is late, sometimes early. Temperature may affect the
hatch. If given one month to fish the streams of the Catskills,
I would, on the average, choose from May fifteenth to June
fifteenth. It is between these dates that I have had my best

66 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

success with a dry fly. If given a choice of time for my favorite
Rocky Mountain streams, I would probably select from the
middle of August to the middle of September. This is not
necessarily due to the fact that in the Rockies the biggest and
best hatch takes place at this time but more to the fact that
by the middle of August the water has dropped to a low level,
and the fish appear to be hungrier for a surface food than
early in the season. With a dry fly in this region, I have found,
after years of experience, that the longer I stayed, the better
the dry-fly fishing became. Unfortunately, I was never able
to stay long enough to see what might happen after the tenth
of September. I had not yet reached the point, if ever I will,
of economic security whereby I could fish as long as I desired.
I still have to work in order to eat in order to go fishing. No
dyed-in-the-wool trout fisherman ever has had enough time,
anyway, to do all the fishing he would like to do. There is just
not enough time in a whole normal lifetime to do that.

To the American fly fisherman there are probably some four
different kinds of natural insects which are of special interest.
Although entomology is a science within itself and a lifetime
or more could be spent in the study of those species of interest
to the fisherman, yet, for very brief summary the following dis-
cussion may suffice. Four of the general orders are the ones of
primary interest and may be listed as follows:

1. Neuroptera (nerve-winged insects)

2. Hymenoptera (insects which have a wasp waist)

3. Coleoptera (beetles)

4. Diptera (two-winged flies)

Taking the Neuroptera, we may subdivide them as far as
the angler is concerned into Ephemeridae, which include the
May flies, the duns, and the like; Perlidae, which are the
stone flies; Trichoptera, which include all the caddis flies;
and Chrysopidae, the so-called lacewings and the Sialidae or
alder fly. The last two classifications would be of more inter-
est to the Englishman and his chalk stream than to the Ameri-
can angler.

Returning to the Ephemeridae, one of the most important

The Part Played by the Sciences 67

kinds of Insects to the dry-fly man, we find them prevalent
on all trout streams. They are most plentiful on the Eastern
streams during May and early June, the exact time depending
somewhat on seasonal conditions. They can be recognized by
their upright wings and long tails. Often they may be observed
floating downstream by the hundreds with their wings erect,
glistening in the sunlight on a bright day. The Iron-Blue Dun,
the Blue Upright, and many others are the fisherman's imita-
tions. On the streams of the Pacific watershed they may be
found all through the open season. The egg of this fly is laid
in the water, and the larvae grow and live underwater, the
period of development often being as long as three years be-
fore it reaches the imago or final stage.

I remember in particular the Ephemeridae on Hot Creek
in the High Sierra a hatch occurring every day all through
the season. In May it would take place after nine o'clock in
the morning, and as the season progressed, the hatch would
come on earlier until autumn, when it would again begin
later in the morning. These flies would float downstream by
the thousands, and in the days when this stream was at its best,
the fish would rise by the hundreds with a regularity that was
surprising. About the only artificial fly they would take on
these occasions would be a No. 18 Blue Upright. The selec-
tivity of these brown trout during the hatch of the Ephem-
eridae was nothing short of exasperating. They would take
the natural within an inch or two of the artificial. To see these
mammoth trout rise to the live fly so close to the imitation
would often give me the most acute attack of "buck fever" I
have ever experienced, and nothing could be done about it.
However, once in a while the browns would make a fatal mis-
take, much to my satisfaction.

The Perlidae, a subdivision of the family of Neuroptera,
are the so-called stone flies which have their habitat in the
larval stage on the stony bottom of the stream. Our imitations
would include such artificials as the Stone Fly, the Willow
Fly, the Yellow Sally, and others. They are imitated more in
the wet- than the dry-fly pattern.

68 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

The Trichoptera are the familiar caddis flies. Every fisher-
man, be he wet or dry, is familiar with the caddis cases found
clinging to submerged sticks or to the rocks on the bottom of
the stream. Often the bait fisherman will extract the larva
from these cases and use it for bait. In cleaning trout one often
finds their stomachs full of these caddis cases, a favorite food.
The eggs are laid in the water in a gelatinous state, and when
the larvae emerge, they incase themselves with any material
available, which they cement together to form the * 'caddis
case/' In the fully developed imago stage, the sedge and caddis
flies are common.

A remarkable thing happened to my friend and good fish-
ing companion, Myron H. Nichols, with the Trichoptera or
caddis fly. In fact, this experience is an annual occurrence
and happens on the Maple River of Michigan some time be-
tween the middle of June and the middle of July.

The Detroit Edison Company has constructed a power de-
velopment on this stream, and the term Upper or Lower Maple
refers to those stretches that may lie either above or below
the lake formed by the backwater above the dam. The Lower
Maple contains some large browns which are not too easy to
take on a dry fly, the only time undoubtedly being when the
caddis flies are hatching in great numbers. The upper portion
of the Maple is heavily stocked with brookies. There have
been some large trout taken from both the lower Maple and
from the reservoir itself. One brown caught from the reser-
voir was reported to weigh over 1 1 pounds, while the Lower
Maple has produced browns weighing from a few pounds to
as much as 9 or 10.

Each year during some part of June or July the "caddis
hatch" is something to see. It will last for several weeks, build-
ing up to a peak and diminishing in intensity thereafter. It
usually takes place starting at about dusk and lasting until well
along into the night, when it finally stops. When the hatch
is at its peak, the water will literally be alive with the insects.

At times the surface of the stream will practically be cov-
ered with the caddis flies. As this phenomenon usually takes

The Part Played by the Sciences 69

place after dark, It is impossible to see a dry fly. At this stage
of the hatch, the big browns go crazy, and their constant feed-
ing on the insects may be heard by the fisherman. The sound
of their sucking in the individual insects has been compared by
the fishermen to the noise of a hog feeding from a trough.

Because it's impossible to see a dry fly on the water, the
fisherman must place his cast by sound alone. He will wait
until he hears the suction of the feeding brown near enough
to him to place his cast and then try to drop his imitation as
near the spot where the noise took place as circumstances will
permit. If, after placing his cast, he hears a sucking noise near
the location where he believes his fly to have alighted, he im-
mediately strikes. When things are working right and to the
fisherman's advantage, he will often connect with a good-sized
trout. Playing one of these large browns without the benefit
of daylight is an experience, my friend tells me, that is one
to be remembered.

There are times when a wet fly is most effective, particularly
when the hatch is a heavy one and when there are a vast num-
ber of caddis flies on the surface. A form of bucktail tied to
imitate the nymphal form of the caddis is recommended. Dry-
fly fishing after dark is an event not many of us have ever ex-
perienced, but we may readily imagine its possibilities to-
gether with its uncertainties.

The Hymenoptera are not aquatic insects but at times,
through accidental or other causes, do get on the water. They
include all the wasp-waisted insects, such as ants, bees, yellow
jackets, wasps, and the like. When they do fall or are blown
on the water surface, they often buzz or make quite a disturb-
ance, which, in turn, will attract an otherwise uninterested
fish. I have found, when cleaning my trout, several bees or
yellow jackets in the fish's stomachs, attesting to their fond-
ness for this type of food. The common imitations include all
the so-called Red and Black Ants, the McGinty, Western Bee,
and others. Dry flies may be fashioned to imitate all these
insects and are sometimes quite effective.

The Coleoptera, or beetles, are not of interest so much to

^o Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

the dry-fly man as they might be to the wet-fly or bait fisher-

man.

The Diptera flies, so named because of their two wings, are
usually and most commonly used by the dry-fly man in a form
tied small as a gnat, the Black Gnat and Green Gnat being
typical examples.

OPTICS

In order to get the trout's point of view, one must mentally
project himself into the trout's environment underwater.
This introduces a study of optics. A trout usually points up-
stream into the current, and for that reason the dry-fly fisher-
man approaching from downstream has the distinct advantage.
What the fish sees of our world is limited to what is commonly
known as his "window." It is as though the underside of the

Area of low

visibility

\

The trout's window

surface of the water were a mirror with all the stones and other
objects on the stream bottom reflected against it, except di-
rectly overhead, where there is a circular area through which
the trout looks into our world. Reference is made to the dia-
gram shown above. The fish's vision is restricted to reflected
rays from objects outside the water. A ray of light coming from
directly overhead will go directly to the fish. Any ray coming
from any other point except directly overhead will be re-
fracted, the angle to the horizontal becoming flatter as the

The Part Played by the Sciences yx

edge of the window is approached. Remember that this win-
dow is circular and can be compared to a funnel with the small
end at the fish's eye. Finally, we reach a point, shown by the
very heavy line, where only a small portion of the rays will
penetrate the water. Most of them will be reflected up, so that
anything will be less visible to the fish in the shaded area than
in the nonshaded area.

Here let us digress for a moment and then come back to
the diagram on page 70. We are concerned here with the
amount of light actually received by the fish. The curve shown
in the diagram above, which was worked out by one of my
physicist friends, gives a more accurate interpretation of the
beams or rays of light penetrating the water surface. It has
been plotted by polar coordinates and to those interested may
need a brief explanation. Starting with the horizon, we find
that the intensity of the light entering the water as compared

72 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

to that In the air is zero, but at 5 degrees above the horizon the
intensity has increased to approximately 40 per cent, the angle
above the horizon being shown by the radial straight lines and
the percent by the numbers along the concentric circles. When
the angle becomes 10 degrees above the horizon, the intensity
reaches about 65 per cent of that in the air. When we reach
the vertical, or directly overhead, the intensity amounts to
approximately 98 per cent. It will never reach 100 per cent
because some of the light will be reflected at the water surface
back into the air itself. It would be interesting, then, to note
that a ray or beam of light originating from an object 6 feet
above the water surface and 30 feet away from a trout whose
eye was practically at the water's surface, or a few inches below
it, would have an intensity of approximately 72 per cent, as
the angle with the horizon would be 1 1 degrees, 20 minutes.

The first time I ever was aware of this condition of being
able to approach closer to a trout in shallow water than in a
deep pool took place many years ago on a tributary to the
famous Esopus in the Catskills of New York. I had been fishing
the stream that empties into the Esopus at Mount Tremper.
We called it the DeVall Hollow stream, although some of the
maps indicate it as the Mount Tremper stream.

I had been using a No. 14 Light Cahill fly and had been con-
centrating my efforts on the deeper runs. I had not been too
successful and had attributed the fact to the time of day. It
was around two o'clock in the afternoon, not the most propi-
tious time of day for a dry fly. However, with the sun at my
back, my shadow must have fallen on the water, and at my
advance I observed many fish dart away out of the deeper runs.
Try as I would I could not seem to conceal my approach to
these enticing pieces of water. In those days I had not fished
as much as I have since, and maybe there were many things
I did not observe that are so essential to success. I was in-
trigued by the deep runs and had passed up the shallower
water where often there is a good fish.

As I waded upstream through the ankle- and knee-deep
water, I saw several fish wait until I was a few feet from them

The Part Played by the Sciences 73

before they would dart away to seek shelter from me. Here,
for the first time, I started to analyze the situation. Why could
I approach so near to these trout, often seeing them before
they saw me? Without trying to get the answer, I immediately
changed my tactics and started to reverse my procedure by
fishing the shallows and passing up the deeper runs. I started
to take fish on what were relatively short casts. That evening I
took out pencil and paper and went to work. By the aid of a
sketch of the trout's window and the area of vision he covers,
it was not long before I had the simple and logical answer to
the problem, viz., the nearer the surface the trout may be, the
more restricted is his vision. His window area is in proportion
to his depth. Looking back on this simple explanation, I can
remember many times I have seen fish ahead of me in the
shallow runs which I know have not seen me. It has been the
means of Improving my catch on many streams.

In line with this same reasoning, it is my opinion and my
experience that the most difficult places to interest a trout
with a dry fly on any stream are the deep pools. Not only is the
fish's vision area much larger, but also he more often than not
is down in the depths of a pool, and the effort to come up
through many feet of water to take a surface fly appears to be
a useless undertaking. Once in a while he will do this, often
at the lower end of the pool where it may shallow off before
the water spills out over the downstream end. When he is in
this part of the pool, he has purposely taken up a feeding posi-
tion in the shallower portion of the pool in order to command
a better view of the approaching food. Once he returns to the
depths, it is extremely difficult to interest him in anything ex-
cept bottom food. It does not pay to spend too much time
casting over the very deep water. I must admit, however, that
these are the very intriguing portions of any stream, and the
chances of a big trout in these waters is excellent. We all try
them, I know, for the attraction of the big ones is difficult to
resist.

Again referring to the diagram on page 70, objects on the
bottom, such as the stone at A, will be reflected at A' and be

74 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

seen by the fish. It must be remembered that, wherever the
fish moves, the window moves with it; also, that the closer
to the surface he is, the smaller will be his window and, con-
sequently, the less he will see of our world. This accounts for
a question which at one time puzzled me why it is possible
for the fisherman to approach so much nearer in shallow water
than in deep water before he is seen by the trout. At B is an
artificial fly floating on the surface. Imagine the current flow-
ing from right to left and the fish heading into the current.
This particular trout will be conscious of something coming
toward him, possibly food. He is conscious of this because the
water surface has been broken, and he sees a distinct sparkle.
Just as soon as the fly enters his window, he will be able to see
whether or not it may be palatable. If he believes it is, he will
rise for a closer view. If it is an artificial fly and we have done
our part correctly, he will undoubtedly take it, much to our
satisfaction and to his disappointment. If the fly is not moving
with the current as though it were detached from our equip-
ment but is dragging across current, it is safe to say that he
will refuse it.

Inasmuch as the rays of light reaching the fish are bent or
refracted, objects outside the water have a decidedly distorted
look to the trout. A man's height appears to the fish to be
greatly foreshortened, while his apparent breadth is not greatly
affected, so that he must appear as though he had been tele-
scoped. The illustration facing page 70 is a reproduction from
the American Museum of Natural History showing how the
fisherman looks to the trout. That portion of him below the
surface of the water looks quite natural to us, but what the
fish sees through the window is considerably flattened.

All the discussion as to the trout's window and what he sees
through it has so far been limited to the assumption that the
window's water surface is fairly calm and quiet. This is usually
the case, but if there is a considerable ripple on the water or if
the fish is in tumbling, rough water, then portions of the win-
dow may be at an angle to the horizontal, and the fish may
have an entirely different impression of us. The surface plane,

The Part Played by the Sciences 75

or portions of It, may be tilted to the horizontal, and the field
of vision may therefore be greatly enlarged or distorted, de-
pending on the direction and angle of tilt. However, with a
water surface disturbed either by wind or by roughness caused
by rocks and ripples, it is doubtful if the fish's vision is suffi-
ciently clear for him to distinguish just what the object may
be that is in his line of vision. For this reason, it is sometimes
possible to take trout where it might be impossible under still,
placid surface conditions.

The best illustration of this fact that has ever come to my
attention is to be found on that famous dry-fly Idaho stream
about which so much has been written, Silver Creek (see pic-
ture facing page 39). I have been fishing this stream for many
years, and I have always found that my chances of interesting
trout with a dry fly are immeasurably better when there is a
ripple on the water. In fact, it is one of the most difficult
streams to fish when absolutely calm. The big trout that fre-
quent its waters can be seen rising ahead of die angler, making
large rings on the smooth surface, only to refuse any offering
of the artificial when presented to them. They immediately
go to the bottom and seek cover in the moss when the fly drops
on such a placid surface. They are the most gut-shy, tempera-
mental trout I have encountered. One has to use every iota
of skill to interest them. Silver Creek is one of the most in-
triguing dry-fly streams in the West.

The often repeated warning not to let your shadow fall on
the water is excellent advice. However, the fish does not have
an eyelid and cannot close his eye as a human being does; con-
sequently, when the sun is shining on the eye which is on the
side of the sun, it is more or less blinded. This gives the fisher-
man a distinct advantage if he approaches the fish between the
sun and the fish rather than on the shaded side. By casting the
fly on the far, or shaded, side, he causes the trout to see it with
his eye away from the sun.

Another point to remember is to keep as low as possible,
trying to blend in with the foliage, if there is any. Also, one's
clothing should be of a subdued color. Avoid wearing any-

y6 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

thing white, remembering that reflected light from a white
object will carry to the trout almost as readily as though a
mirror were reflecting the light. Often, with the sun in one's
face when facing upstream, the light is reflected directly back
into the water, while with the sun on either side, it will be
reflected away to the far bank. And don't forget that a rod
held high is more visible than one held low with the cast being
made from the side.

One word as to the fish's conception of color. It has recently
been shown with an evident degree of validity that he does
have a conception of color. This discovery was made by ex-
perimenting with color in certain foods; the fish always se-
lected the color which was the most palatable.

It is questionable whether or not the sight of a fish is as
important as his reactions to vibration. There is a so-called
lateral line running along the fish's side marking a highly
sensitized nerve. It is this lateral line that warns him of ap-
proaching enemies, by the vibrations set up in the water. For
this reason, extreme care should be taken when wading and
walking along the banks, particularly if they are undercut as
we find them in some of the meadow streams. Authorities
have stated that the ear of the trout is rudimentary, that is to
say, as a means of hearing. Its chief function is to maintain a
sense of equilibrium.

CHEMISTRY

Chemistry enters into our fishing to a slight extent. Men-
tion has already been made of nylon's replacing the silk-
worm.

We know that a range of water temperature from 50 to 65
degrees Fahrenheit is the most ideal range for dry-fly fishing.
When the water reaches 74 degrees, it is almost impossible to
interest a fish in any artificial fly. The oxygen content of water
is proportional to its temperature. As the temperature rises,
the oxygen content diminishes, and the activity of the fish also
diminishes. It is for this reason that the expert will carry a
stream thermometer to determine whether or not the maxi-

The Part Played by the Sciences ^

mum temperature has been exceeded. If at all possible, he
will seek those places where spring runs enter the stream or
where the more aerated water is. I have noted one exception
to this rule, the Fire Hole River in Yellowstone, which has
furnished some excellent dry-fly fishing where the water tem-
perature was above the 74-degree mark. The fish in this stream
must have adjusted themselves to higher temperatures.

The growth of trout is dependent upon the oxygen con-
tent. On Hot Creek in the High Sierra, the fish culturists have
noted a growth of i inch per month up to a total of approxi-
mately 6 to 7 inches. The temperature here is virtually uniform
the year around, and the food supply is more than abundant.
Hot Creek is practically ideal the laboratory type of stream
for trout growth.

One of the best illustrations of water temperature and oxy-
gen content that I have experienced took place on the Sturgeon
River on the lower peninsula of Michigan. The weather had
been warm, in fact hot, for three or four days. Fishing had
dropped off, each day being poorer than the day before. It
was one of those long, dry, hot spells, and the water tempera-
ture had risen to a point to cause the fish to hug the deep holes
where undoubtedly some cold springs were keeping the deep
water several degrees colder than the surface.

The weather broke in a violent thunder shower, and that
evening the temperature dropped from the nineties down to
the low sixties. The next day the air was clear and brisk and
the water considerably colder. I had but two days left of my
fishing vacation on this stream, but all that day and the next
the fishing was excellent. I managed to take a few s-pound
trout, and the activity of all the fish was enough to make me
glad I had decided to stay and "sweat it out." I can attribute
this phenomenon only to the change of water temperature and
its effect on the activity of the trout.

PSYCHOLOGY

When we use psychology in our fishing, we must completely
discard our above-water world, undergo an imaginary meta-

78 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

morphosis, and attempt to substitute the fish's underwater
living.

What would we see if we were trout? What would we eat?
Where would we be? After fishing for years on many streams,
one finds that the answers to these ' k trout- world" questions
become a matter of simple logic. It has best been spoken of as
"fish sense.'* It can be gained only by experience, constant ob-
servation, and perseverance.

The different mental attitudes of many of my fishermen
friends are strange indeed. We all approach a stream full of
enthusiasm and expectation. We are all alike in this respect.
We can hardly wait to cast our fly on the water. After a half
hour or so, the psychological processes begin to demonstrate
themselves in varying forms, depending on the individual. If,
for instance, the fish are not rising, one type of man becomes
discouraged. He wants to try some other portion of the river.
He is not content to keep plugging away as would another type
of fisherman who hopes that at some time of the day the fish
may respond to his efforts.

It is our belief in our casting, in our skill, and in our ex-
perience, often gained the hard way, that eventually brings
us to the end of the day with a light heart and a heavy creel.

Probably we are prone to credit a trout with much more
sense or intelligence than that with which he is actually en-
dowed. After all, the brain of a 1 4-inch trout occupies a space
about the size of a pea. The trout's nervous system is not too
highly developed. It must be more fear and fright than pain
that causes him to fight the tension applied to his tackle by
the fisherman. You may readily prove this fact if sometime you
will deliberately ease off on the battling trout once you have
hooked him. More often than not he will cease his struggles
and either slowly swim away or remain stationary in the water
until you again stir him up by applying tension.

Self-preservation and the struggle for existence are primor-
dial in all wildlife, and trout are no exception to this rule.
Mergansers, fish hawks, ospreys, herons, and kingfishers are
but a few of the birds that take their toll of the fish population.

The Part Played by the Sciences yg

Otter, water snakes, turtles, etc., take their share of trout from
our streams, to say nothing of the large number of fingerlings
devoured by the large cannibalistic trout. It is little wonder
that a feeding trout will dash for cover at the slightest disturb-
ance to his environment. Only by so doing has he been able to
survive.

Trout are on the search for food all the time unless their
feeding is interrupted by the approach of some potential
enemy. The great bulk of their food supply comes from under
the water and not from the surface. Much of it is obtained
from under the stones on the bottom, from caddis cases at-
tached to sticks and stones, from food w r ashed into the stream
when a storm causes a runoff from the adjacent banks. Rela-
tively a very small per cent of their sustenance is derived from
the surface feed. No one seems ever to have explained the
psychology of a trout's fondness for the very small tidbit he gets
from a floating fly. One writer has mentioned that probably a
surface-feeding trout expends more energy and burns up more
fuel to rise to the surface in order to take a floating fly than is
replaced by the nutritive value of the fly itself. It is possible
that if a fish fed exclusively on the surface he might, accord-
ing to this supposition, eventually starve to death!

Anyway, the floating fly seems to be a morsel that is particu-
larly fascinating to trout. Like all of us, you have at times
probably been fooled by the actions of a large trout when
he has been "nymphing" and not truly surface-feeding. It may
be that you have watched several good fish rising with surpris-
ing regularity for what you supposed were floating flies. Try
as you would, you could not induce them to take your offering.
There they were turning over as they fed on a natural. You
could see their dorsal fins and tails break the water as they took
the natural food. No fly that you placed on the surface either in
pattern or size would interest them. Finally you arrived at
the conclusion that they must be taking the nymphal form
just before it reached the surface, and your dry flies were not
the indicated method of enticing your fish. In cases like this,
your dry fly is of practically no avail it, like all other forms

80 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

of lures, has its limitations. Once a trout makes up his mind
what he wants, it is difficult to change the mental pattern.
Maybe this might be called fish psychology. Anyway, it can
be most disconcerting to the fisherman.

The intriguing thing about this dry-fly game is the abso-
lute uncertainty of it. You most likely will have several days
in a row that have been so successful you come to the conclusion
you have the game licked, and from now on it is going to be an
easy matter to take as many fish as you want. All at once comes
a day when try as you may the fish will not cooperate at all with
you! When this occurs, are we put in our place? Decidedly so!
Maybe there is more than fish psychology in this performance
from a cold-blooded animal with such a small brain. After
all, what fools they can make of a man!

METEOROLOGY

The subject of meteorology has definitely some bearing on
trout fishing. It is known that the barometric pressure influ-
ences the results to a marked extent. On a falling barometer
the fisherman may as well stay at home as far as any fly fishing
is concerned. Once the barometer reaches its lowest point, it
may linger there until the storm center has passed, and his
chances may slightly improve. Once, however, the barometer
starts up or is in a high position, the prospects are excellent.
We do not know why an approaching storm affects the fishing,
but I have seen this condition hold in almost every instance.

One October on the upper Owens River of California, three
of us were on a three-day trip. We had no sooner arrived at
our cabin than a low-pressure area developed and a storm soon
started. It was one of those intermittent storms consisting of
sleet, snow, and rain, a most disagreeable day to fish, but inas-
much as we had a limited time, we decided to brave the ele-
ments and headed for the river. Max Turner, one of the trio of
fishermen, had never fished this river, but he was an accom-
plished dry-fly man. We fished hard all day and with the
expected results one fish apiece. Although Max was skeptical
and hard to convince that this river contained plenty of fish,

The Part Played by the Sciences 81

we others had fished it before and we knew Its possibilities.

Late in the evening of the day before we were to leave, the
weather cleared, and the barometer started an upward climb.
The morning we were to depart the air was brisk and clear.
We closed the cabin and headed for the river. After consider-
able persuasion, we finally induced Max to take the same
stretch of water he had fished when his results were so poor.

We had reached the stream at nine o'clock in the morning
and decided to meet at the car at one o'clock in the afternoon
for the start of the 325-mile drive home. We met earlier than
the appointed time for just one reason everyone had taken
a limit of fish and had to quit. Needless to say, our friend Max
was from that time on a staunch believer in the barometric
theory.

The same kind of experience was met with on one of the
Montana streams. A fisherman's barometer was carried on the
trip and a careful record kept of the pressure changes. In two
weeks' time two different storms developed, each of a day's
duration. As the barometer fell, the fishing was not worth the
effort, but Immediately on its starting to rise and after it had
come up to a normal position, one had no trouble In taking all
the fish he desired.

During the war my fishing friend, Fred T. Schell, was called
East to the submarine base at New London, Connecticut.
We had fished many of the Western streams together, but my
friend had never tried any of the New England waters. He,
like many of the Westerners, had the opinion that the Eastern
streams offered very poor sport in comparison to our Western
rivers. None of us had much opportunity during the war years
to go fishing. Fred was inclined to leave his tackle behind but
finally decided to take at least a skeleton outfit with him in
case he had the opportunity to use it. I have always regarded
with the utmost respect his ability as a dry-fly man. He is
precise and meticulously painstaking in everything he does. I
certainly hoped he would have the opportunity to try at least
one Eastern stream.

Shortly after the war was over, Fred returned to his work in

82 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

California. In order to get his reactions to the Eastern fishing,
I dropped by his office, and after the preliminary greetings
were over, the following conversation took place. It is inter-
esting to note that, in my friend's opinion, the effect of meteor-
ological changes influenced his fishing more than any other
single factor.

"What was the name of the river you fished?" I asked.

"The Yantic River/' Fred replied.

How well I remembered the Yantic from a few summers
before the war when I was spending my vacations in the East.
I thought it better to draw him out in his reactions to the
country, so continued to ply him with questions.

"How did you learn about the Yantic?" I continued.

"From one of the boys at the laboratory," said Fred. "He
was an enthusiastic fly fisherman. It took all of the winter of
1944-1945 to locate and meet someone who was really fond
of fishing and who would reveal the name of one of his favor-
ite streams. This chap lived in the town of Norwich, and it
was only about 10 miles from his home to that part of the
river that was closed to fly fishing only."

Here was a revelation to Fred, for in his native state of
California there are no streams or portions thereof devoted
exclusively to fly fishing. Some day the California Fish and
Game Commission may awaken to the fact that they too must
follow suit in this respect.

"How did you find time to fish?" I asked.

"The project on which I was working was about completed.
I was writing the final report, and since this could be done by
working nights, it was not too difficult to take a Saturday or
Sunday for a little fishing."

"What time of year did you first see the stream?"

"In late March or early April/' he replied.

"How in the world did you get to the stream with no auto-
mobile?" I asked.

"Well, I traveled by bus," said Fred. "It was about a forty-
five-minute trip to the town of Norwich where I changed busses
for one that went up the river. As I recall, I left the bus about

The Part Played by the Sciences 83

ten miles out of town and by walking about a block from the
highway, I came to a bridge across the stream."

"Did you meet any fishermen on the bus?" I inquired.
Maybe that was the only way many had to reach their fishing
waters during the war.

"No. The first trip was before the season opened, but
neither did I see any on later trips," said Fred.

"Well, Fred, as a Westerner, what was your impression of
the first Eastern trout stream you had ever seen?" I anxiously
inquired.

"Oh, it was beautiful," he enthusiastically replied. "The
countryside was gorgeous, beautiful rolling hills with culti-
vated farms along both sides of the highway which ran through
the valley. For the most part, while not heavily forested, the
banks of the stream were lined with maple, oak, willows, and
some evergreens. The stream itself looked promising," he
continued, "although this first exploratory trip was made on
a Saturday following several days' rain, and the river was high
and dirty. Right at this time it was too large to wade com-
fortably. In fact, one could not have crossed it safely. I walked
downstream and tried to visualize it as it would be when the
water cleared and dropped. It looked like good trout water,
but I felt it would be several weeks before it would be good
fly fishing." Here was an enthusiast sizing up the situation in
advance.

"When did you finally get back?" I questioned.

"Not until my friend at the laboratory reported that the
stream was clear and should be good for fly fishing. That was
probably about the third week in April or the first of May,"
he continued.

"When I saw you off on the plane for New York, I didn't
remember you were overloaded with fishing gear. How were
you equipped?" I asked.

"You didn't know it, but I took along two fly rods, breast
waders, fishing jacket, dry flies, leaders, a net, and some other
equipment/' said Fred. How these research men of the war
period must have overloaded the planes, I thought.

84 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

"Have anyone to fish with?" I inquired.

"Yes/ 1 said Fred. "I arranged to meet my friend from the
lab at the bridge that crossed the stream."

"Well, did the water look good to you this time?*' I ven-
tured.

"Yes," he said. "It was much lower, but it had a peculiar
color looked like weak tea. However, I soon found out that
this color was due to the color of the ledge rock and gravel of
the bottom; actually, the water was crystal clear."

"Tell me," I wanted to know, "did you use dry flies?"

"Of course," he said with an air of feeling insulted by such
a question. "I used size 14 in a brown bivisible, honey bi-
visible, and a few others, the names of which I don't remember
right now."

"Did you find anything unusual about the conditions?" I
asked, leading him along.

"Yes, I did," Fred replied. "The fact that the weather
changed three or four times a day. It would be clear and sunny,
humid for an hour or two, during which time one could not
raise a single fish. Then it would cloud up and shower, and
in the midst of the shower, the fish would start to take the fly
deliberately and readily. The rise would continue for an hour
or two, then it would get humid again, and the fish would
quit feeding." He continued, "This happened all day long
until I quit. The weather changes were a nuisance, but I
recalled that I had been told to expect that. In fact, my first
day at the laboratory the natives told me if I did not like the
weather to wait a half hour and it would change."

"Then you think the meteorological conditions did affect
your fishing?" I insisted.

"There is absolutely no question as to that," said Fred. "It
made all the difference in the world."

"Any other comments?" I finally asked.

"Only that I found this exceedingly pleasant fishing," Fred
said. "The stream was just the right size for easy working of
a dry fly. It looked like good water for almost any variety of

The Part Played by the Sciences 85

trout. The surrounding countryside was lovely. I only hope
I may try it again some day,'* he ended.

Here was the information I wanted the reactions of an
expert dry-fly man to the changes of weather and its effect on
the fishing. It merely goes to show what a tremendous effect
meteorology has on our success with the dry fly.

This effect of change in barometric pressure on trout habits
is, in a way, unexplainable. We do not know that probably
fish are much more sensitive to pressure fluctuations than is
man. However, often when the barometer is high, we humans
feel full of life and vigor. Who has not, on a clear, brisk day,
felt that he could accomplish much more than on one of those
humid, "oppressive" mornings? This same feeling must affect
the trout, but in a much more marked manner. We have
noticed so many instances of poor fishing with low barometer
and such good fishing in high-pressure areas that the two in-
stances cited above may suffice to show how typical they are.

<~Sront <2J/Z7<?rz'<?J and OJ V/
itn < ' nem

THE BROWN trout (Salmo fario} Is decidedly a dry-fly fish. /
has been mentioned before, it was introduced into our Eas
ern streams from Germany in the eighties. There has alwa^
been some confusion in the minds of the Western anglers 2
to the distinction between the Loch Leven and the brow
trout. It would seem that the same species was introduce
into Loch Leven, Scotland, and into the Eastern waters of th
United States. These fish probably adapted themselves to thei
particular environments, and some minor changes took plac
through the different generations to conform with these er
vironments. Later, the trout from Loch Leven were brougl:
to the United States and planted in our waters. Although the
appear to some slight extent to be different fish, their feedin
habits are the same, and they respond to the dry fly equall
well. The two varieties have interbred, so that many of u;
at least, cannot now tell the difference. In fact, we have n
desire to do so, our main interest being that they are wondei
ful fish. So, from here on, let us refer to the two varieties simpl
as the "brown trout/'

The distribution of the brown trout is countrywide, H
thrives in almost any type of water that is conducive to troui
You will find him in New England, in the streams of the Af
palachians, in the northern Middle Western states, throughou

86

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 87

the Rocky Mountain and the Pacific Coast states. He is able
to adapt himself to his environment. His ability to live and
grow in somewhat warmer water than many other species is
quite remarkable.

He is a voracious feeder, going to great length to secure
food. You might say that his diet embraces almost everything
that is at all edible by fish. Worms, insects, small trout even
of his own species, minnows, field mice that are unfortunate
enough to fall into the water, frogs, toads, and the vast under-
water insect life in its various stages of development comprise
a great share of his food.

In appearance he has certain characteristics. The name
brown has been aptly applied. If you have been catching other
species and suddenly hook into a brown, you are definitely
impressed by the brown color of the fish. In comparison to the
rainbow, his body is much longer and ordinarily not so deep
from the backbone to the belly. If it is a large fish you catch,
you will notice the well-developed head, the red and brown
spots that adorn his sides. Watch out for those needle-sharp
teeth when you unhook him!

On some of the Eastern streams which you fish you may find
low dams in places that at some time or other may have served
to store water for local sawmills. There are many of the smaller
streams, often tributary to the larger rivers, where some enter-
prising farmer or local lumber dealer has taken advantage of
the power possibilities afforded by a sudden drop in these
smaller creeks or brooks. Above these dams the water may
have backed up for a hundred yards or more. Often at the
upper end or along the shores it will be relatively shallow.
The meadows may come down to the water's edge where tall
grass or reeds or cattails may grow.

In this part of the country the twilight lingers much longer
than in the more southern latitudes, and you will find at this
time of day the big browns will forsake the deeper water of
these millponds and will often cruise around near shore look-
ing for some unfortunate frog that may have unluckily jumped
into the water. Here in these shallower waters the small fry

88 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

congregate to escape the cannibalistic tendencies of their
grown-up species. In these calm shoals the large fish often can
be seen rising to a surface fly. On a warm summer's evening
for a half hour or so you may be surprised to see the activity
taking place here.

If there are any little fellows along the edge, you may be
astounded at the commotion one of these big trout will make
when he is chasing his prey along the pond's edge close to the
weeds or grass that line the shore. Try dropping your dry fly
near one of those telltale rings where a good fish has just taken
a natural. You may be rewarded by a good-sized brown taking
your offering.

Some of the states permit night fishing. This is often the
only time the big browns will come to the surface of the deep
pools and feed on natural insects. It is difficult to fish a dry fly
at this time of the day. Visibility is so essential for proper
presentation; there are times, however, when the dry becomes
effective even after dark. You must know your stream by heart,
and you will probably select some meadow portion of it where
you will not be handicapped by heavy growth interfering
with your backcast. You will listen to the telltale "plop" of a
rising fish and then drop your fly as near to the location of the
noise as you are able to judge. The strike will be timed to the
sucking noise of the fish provided you are that lucky. There
will be many misses, but once in a while you may connect.
This type of fishing has an appeal, hut probably you will find
after a trial or two that you prefer the orthodox daylight sport.
Its great advantage is that it may be the only time of day when
the big browns are active on the surface form of food.

No matter in what part of the country you fish, you will
find the brown trout will have the same habits and the same
characteristics. Transplanting him from one part of the United
States to another has in no way changed his feeding or living
routine. If you learn how to fish for him in the Eastern states
and later try for him in the West, you will find he is the same
fish. Remember, he is the most cagey trout that swims, the
most difficult to catch, the most particular to accept your fly,

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 89

the most unpredictable, and at the same time the one fish
that seems to be able to survive the onslaughts of heavily
fished streams. When the word "selective" was applied to dry-
fly fishing to indicate a trout's fussiness and ability to distin-
guish a well-presented fly from a poorly presented one, it must
have been coined with the brown trout in mind. After you
have fished for him over a period of years, you come to respect
him. How often you will see him approach your fly on some
smooth glide and follow it for a considerable distance looking
it over before he makes up his mind to take or refuse it. When
he does take, it will more often than not be in a deliberate,
calculated manner. Just a gentle sucking in of the fly. In fact,
it is difficult to determine just when he actually has accepted
the fly, so gently does it disappear from view. Here you may
need to control your strike; if too soon, you take it away from
him; if too late, he will have ejected it. The coordination of
your reflexes needs to be timed perfectly if you expect to hook
your fish.

On some of the slow-flowing meadow streams where there
is no opportunity for you to take cover behind bushes or trees,
on your approach to the stream, you may often find you will
resort to creeping up to some enticing-looking run on your
hands and knees. If a good hatch is in progress and the browns
are feeding, you may be surprised at the number in evidence,
provided, of course, your approach has not been detected. You
will be fortunate if you can control your cast if you are at all
susceptible to that sportsman's malady commonly referred to
as "buck fever." Sometimes you may be able to take three or
four browns from the same run if you can lead them in turn
downstream out of the water you are working. It will pay you
to keep out of sight, and after landing your first fish, wait
long enough to "rest" the run and to give the trout a chance
to resume their feeding before you start in on them again.

When you raise a brown and he refuses your fly, you will
find it is useless to keep casting over the same fish. Rarely, if
ever, do they return to the fly until they have been rested for
a considerable length of time. It is better to return hours later

go Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

or wait until the next day. Further casting, once he has refused,
is merely a waste of time and only serves to defeat your purpose.

We must admit that this species has been the salvation of
our trout fishing on heavily fished streams. Its ability to sur-
vive under conditions that are more or less unfavorable to
the rainbow and the native Eastern brook trout has been the
means of continuing the trout population of many of our
streams. Fishermen have noticed and it is not entirely at-
tributable to the large growth in population, with its resulting
growth in the fisherman population the decline in the quality
of fishing in the southern part of California since the planting
program turned almost exclusively to rainbow. Even allowing
for the vast increase in the number of fishermen over that of
some ten years ago, when the planting turned almost entirely
to rainbow, the results these days for the fly fisherman are
dismal indeed. Giving a proportion of the plant to the brown
in the southern waters would be interesting to observe from
the standpoint of survival rate. The present program of the
rainbow seems to be a matter of "put" and "take" the com-
mission puts them in, the fisherman takes them out.

To return to the brown trout, our typical dry-fly fish, one is
never sure where he will be found, that is to say, in what type
of water. He is quite often in the very tail end of the pools and
the smooth glides typical dry-fly water. Sometimes he will
be in this shallow water at a depth hardly sufficient to cover
his dorsal fin. How often I have approached the tail end of
these glides, only to find that several good fish would rush
upstream, leaving a large telltale wake. It does not take one
long to learn that this is the place to drop a fly carefully, often
with the longest and finest leader. Many good fish have been
taken from these places, but it necessitates extreme care and
equally good casting to accomplish this. Good advice would
be always to try this water first and then with caution proceed
on up through the run or pool to its head. The brown has a
habit of lying, quite often, not only behind a big rock but in
front of it as well, where the current is divided, one branch
flowing to one side, the other branch to the other side of the

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them gi

rock. Here is. a pocket of relatively quiet water, the current
being cushioned directly in front of the boulder.

To linger for a moment on the habits of the brown, I remem-
ber one illustration on Hot Creek in the High Sierra of Cali-
fornia. Where the stream flows into the canyon at the head of
the gorge, there is a small island, possibly 6 or 8 feet long and
only 2 or 3 feet wide. At the upper end is one of these cush-
ioned pockets. As I came upstream in view of this probable
lie of a good fish, I noticed a very slight swirl, or what looked
like one, at the upstream end of the island. A large bubble was
formed and floated a few feet before it burst. Dropping the
fly about 5 feet above this place and directly in line with it,
I waited until it floated over the exact spot. Again there was
a very slight swirl, and another bubble formed. At the same
time the fly disappeared from view. The rest can be Imagined
a long fight and finally, in the net, a 22-inch fish.

Directly below this small island the stream enters the gorge,
and the water becomes swifter, with here and there a quiet
pool. The moss in this creek in the quieter reaches chokes the
stream. It is of the long, flowing type, streaming in waves with
the current back and forth across the creek. Once you hook a
trout and he runs into one of these weed banks, your only
salvation is to get below him. Even then the odds are with the
fish, but there are times when you can release your trout from
such an entanglement by getting below him and exerting pres-
sure on your equipment. He will often come out with, so to
speak, the grain of the weeds.

When this big brown took the fly, he immediately rushed
downstream and sought refuge in the first weed bank. The
leader was tapered to 4x, the fly a No. 16 Light Cahill. With
such light terminal tackle and with the weed handicap the odds
were at least go per cent against me. However, I did succeed in
getting below the brown and applied pressure to the limit of
the tackle. There I stood for what seemed hours but was in
reality only a matter of minutes.

Finally the fish came clear and dashed with lightning speed
downstream into the fast water of the gorge. If you have ever

g2 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

followed a big brown down through fast water, you know you
must run to keep up with him. It is surprising how many
obstacles nature has the habit of placing in your way rocks,
logs, slippery stones, and even a high ledge were in my way.
To pass the ledge I took to the stream over my boot tops in
places, but the trout was still on.

Some 200 yards down the creek was a deep hole, where the
final phase of the battle was ended. This was probably one of
the most difficult and exciting fights I have ever experienced
with any fish.

I do not ordinarily have a trophy mounted, but this brown
and it is the only one now has a place on my dining-room
wall.

In the swifter waters, the brown will often take refuge be-
hind the rocks and in quite shallow water along the edges of
the riffles. It is surprising what good fish will often be found
in these shallow places. There are no set rules, nor can anyone
say with certainty where you will find your fish. The best
advice is to try all the spots. How disturbing it is when you
walk upstream after fishing, and out of the very spot where,
for some reason or other, you did not float your fly, you scare
out a good trout! We all do it and wonder how we could have
been so shortsighted.

In the meandering meadow streams, these fish love to lie
up close to the banks, and if the banks are undercut, they will
often take cover under them. The fly should be floated as
close as possible to the edge of the water. Often a good fish can
be enticed out from under the bank to take your offering. The
old trick of casting the fly onto the grass at the edge, then
twitching it off the grass to drop on the water, has often been
the means to a fast and vicious rise from a big trout.

The brown will give a good account of himself when
hooked. Although not so spectacular a fighter as the rainbow,
he often breaks water before he settles down to a deep and de-
termined fight. He has the habit of seeking cover. If there
is a possibility of his running under driftwood, snags, or an
undercut bank, he will invariably do it unless you can turn

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 93

him in time. He will generally fight it out in the pool or the
run in which he is hooked. Often he will come directly at the
fisherman, giving him little opportunity to take up slack. You
will find it good practice to develop a habit of bringing your
feet close together if you are wading, the instant a trout is
hooked, to prevent the fish from running between your legs.
One is hopelessly handicapped if this takes place, and there
is no better way of breaking a rod. Sometimes, if the trout
wants to go on downstream past him, the fisherman can turn
the fish by splashing the water and stamping around. This
may send him scurrying back upstream.

This species, in comparison with the rainbow, is much more
deliberate in his actions. When a good-sized brown rises to
the fly, it is usually in a most leisurely manner. Probably you
have at times taken the fly away from a good fish particularly
if, during the day's fishing, you have been raising nothing but
small trout. The little ones are fast in their movements and
in their approach to the fly. You have to strike quickly, or the
fly will be ejected from their mouths before you can set the
hook. The larger ones will often not only move up to the fly
slowly but may in fact follow it along for a short distance
before deciding to take. This procedure requires that the
fisherman have absolute control of his reactions. It is an easy
matter to strike before the fish takes or just as he does take. All
that is needed to hook one of these large browns, when you are
certain he has taken the fly, is to raise the rod tip. He will go
down once he has taken the fly. His downward movement and
your upward motion on the rod tip will set the hook. Again
I must admit that, on numerous occasions, I have been guilty
of striking hard on a big brown, with the result that the fly
has been popped off in the trout's mouth. This happens more
often than not after I have been raising smaller fish for some
time before a truly big fish comes to the fly.

It is interesting to speculate as to the brown-trout popula-
tion in a stream. Undoubtedly, the number and the size of
browns in a stream are greater than the fishing itself would
indicate. Without seining or using some other method such

94 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

as diverting the stream, an actual count cannot be taken. How-
ever, two occurrences on streams I have fished have served to
show that many more and larger fish were there than might be
expected.

Some fifteen or twenty years ago, when I was living for a
month In the Catskills of New York, I used to fish an outlet
stream below a small reservoir that was part of a waterworks
system of one of the cities In the Hudson River valley. The
fishing had not been good. An occasional brown would be
taken, but the trout were extremely hard to get and of a size
that caused no great amount of enthusiasm. One day the water-
works authorities decided that the reservoir needed "blue-
stoning." Either the amount of copper sulphate used in this
process must have been extremely excessive, perhaps because
of lack of good judgment, or possibly a concentration may
have taken place near the outlet. That evening I decided to
try my luck again. Coming down the stream I was amazed at
the number of browns I saw floating "belly up" and at the
size of the fish that had been killed. Needless to say, this stream
from that time on offered some of the poorest fishing Imagi-
nable.

Another Illustration of the fish population took place on
Hot Creek In the middle of October, 1941. Hot Creek has
always been a big producer of trout from the angler's stand-
point. At other places In this book some of Its catches are men-
tioned. To understand the situation. It Is necessary for the
reader to know that one of California's fish hatcheries is lo-
cated on a small spring run which Is a tributary to the main
creek. At this hatchery are the usual rearing ponds. Appar-
ently there was a reason at the hatchery for "cleaning out"
some of the rearing ponds. Some undesirable fish may have
been present, or some contamination. Whatever the reason,
the result left no doubt In anyone's mind that the process had
been extremely effective. The poison, or whatever the chemical
or material was, managed to get out of control and entered the
main creek. The consequence was disastrous in the extreme.
The proprietor of a resort on the stream a mile or so below the

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 95

hatchery, as well as several fishermen, were on the creek when
the effects became noticeable. As one man told me, "Dead fish
were floating down the stream by the boatload." One fisherman
coming into camp reported that the water was literally "alive'*
with dead trout of all sizes. We arrived the next day, and along
the banks where fishermen had hauled out innumerable dead
trout, we saw scores of browns ranging in size from i to 6
pounds. It was a wholesale slaughter, and countless hundreds,
if not thousands, of trout were needlessly sacrificed through
w r hat appeared to be gross inefficiency. The fishing below the
entrance of the hatchery spring run was, needless to say, non-
existent for some time to come. Above the point where the
spring run entered, it was possible to obtain fair results.

These two occurrences are mentioned merely to give an idea
that the trout population of a stream is probably always greater
than the fisherman anticipates.

To illustrate the ability of the brown to survive on hard-
fished waters, I can cite four or five streams where browns have
not been planted for a period of years. One of these streams is
Hot Creek, mentioned above. A peculiarity of this stream is
that in its lower reaches a very large boiling spring enters the
main creek. Inasmuch as this hot spring has its source adjacent
to the bank of the main creek, the entire stream from here on
down for quite a distance is extremely warm, if not hot. In fact,
the temperature is so high that in my opinion it would be im-
possible for a trout to negotiate and survive a passage through
this portion of the stream. About a mile or two below the hot
spring, the creek empties into the Owens River. The river has
rainbow and brown trout and affords good fishing. It would ap-
pear that the only way for trout to get into the fishable portion
of Hot Creek located above the hot spring would be either by
planting or by natural propagation in the stream itself. During
the past ten years or more no browns have been introduced in
the creek rainbows, exclusively, have been planted. Yet, in
fishing Hot Creek with a dry fly, I catch more browns than I do
rainbows. And there are several other streams in this region
that have not been stocked with brown trout in years; yet die

g6 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

catches taken here with a dry fly will be predominantly browns.
From these instances it would seem that any state fish and
game commission should include the brown as well as other
species in its planting and stocking program, provided there
exists water suitable for the several species.

RAINBOW AND RAINBOW EXPERIENCES

The rainbow Salmo irideus is a good dry-fly fish and rises
beautifully to the dry. When conditions are right for a dry fly,
he is not nearly so selective toward your offering, is not nearly
so particular regarding whether or not the fly has been pre-
sented perfectly, and will quite often return to the fly on the
next cast, once he has missed the first one. There is no question
as to his ability as a fighter. He always puts up a spectacular
fight, more often than not out in the open where he is not seek-
ing cover of overhanging brush, undercut banks, or other ob-
structions to a fair, clean contest- His leaps into the air are al-
ways a thrill to the fisherman. The flash of the sun on his silvery
body as he comes clear of the water, once seen, is never to be
forgotten. He has the habit of running downstream a distinct
disadvantage to the dry-fly man or the wet-fly fisherman. The
odds are always against the angler when this happens. You often
have to follow a good rainbow downstream for as much as a
quarter to a half mile before being able to handle him. He is
usually found in the swifter water, quite often at the very head
of a pool but more often along the edge of the swiftest water
where it breaks into the pool from the white water above. It is
easier to "fish out" a stream of rainbows than one of browns,
The rainbow is easier taken on bait, spinners, and other lures
than the brown trout. So, for the small, heavily fished streams,
his rate of survival is relatively small.

His distribution is countrywide. Originating in California,
he has been accepted by all the fish and game commissions as a
most desirable addition to any stream where conditions are
suitable. There appear to be many varieties of this species, all
probably being due to changes in environment and feed.

The typical rainbow has a strong, powerful body, developed

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 97

from his love of the swifter reaches of the stream. His nose, in
comparison with the brown, will strike you as being decidedly
blunt. He is usually deeper through from the back to the belly
than the brown. The body below the medial line is a bright
silvery color, while above he has a greenish tinge. The char-
acteristic marking on this species is the broad lateral band of
bright red extending the entire length of the body. The in-
tensity of this color may vary according to environment. Rain-
bow from some streams have a much brighter hue than those
from other waters. The coloration possibly may be due to the
type of food or to the particular environment in which it lives.

Authorities agree that the steelhead is merely an ocean-run
rainbow. Being an anadromous fish, the steelhead ascends the
coastal rivers of the Pacific to spawn. A fresh-run steelhead,
which has been in fresh water for a few days, does not bear the
characteristic red band of the rainbow. After having been out
of the salt water for a period, it takes on this marking, and by
the time it has spawned, you will notice this characteristic red
color. To many of us it is then difficult to say which fish it may
be.

When planted in the rivers tributary to the ocean, the rain-
bow has the tendency to migrate downstream, eventually re-
turning to the ocean, reverting to the habits of his brother, the
steelhead. You are not so apt to find him in the shallow water at
the tail end of pools and runs as the brown. His love for the
fast, swift, aerated water keeps him in the swifter currents.

He thrives well in company with the brown, although he is
not so fond of the warmer portions of the stream as is the latter
fish. You will probably find that pound for pound he puts up
a more sustained fight than the brown and that his lasting
qualities exceed those of the other species.

Inasmuch as this species originated in California, you may
wonder if his living and feeding habits have changed when he
is found in Eastern and Middle Western streams. Once you
have caught him in widely distributed portions of the country,
you find that he is still a rainbow. Placing any species in far-
distant waters from those in which they originated does not

8 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

make any great change In their habits. True, there may be
minor variations due to environment, but you will find that,
regardless of what part of the country you catch your rainbow
in, his performance xvhen hooked is the same. He Is always the
spectacular fighter, the true aerialist of the trout family, giving
the fisherman a wonderful battle.

His rise to the dry fly, particularly in the swifter water, is
sudden and exciting. Even in the slower flowing stretches he
will often take with a heavy swirl and suddenness, quite un-
like the deliberate rise of the brown. As was mentioned, he is
not so selective as the brown the size and the pattern of the
fly are not so Important to him as to Salmo fario. In the clear,
cold water of the Rockies he is the trout "par excellence." His
flesh Is firm and of a finer flavor than the brown. In some of
the rivers he has surprised me with his endurance and fighting
ability. The first rainbow I took on the Gallatin River of
Montana was a fish of 12 Inches. He did not break water, but
his fight was so sustained that It was a distinct surprise to find
he did not measure at least 2 Inches longer. The fish in this
stream are, in my opinion, the best-conditioned of any stream
I have fished, unless the Lost River of Idaho be excepted.
Their fighting qualities are a revelation to anyone on first
fishing these streams.

The rainbow, when hooked, will often make long, powerful
runs at the end of which he will jump clear of the water. There
is no point in trying to check these runs unless there Is danger
that he may go over a cascade or down through water where It
is Impossible for the angler to follow. On more than one oc-
casion I have had to follow along the bank, keeping up with
my fish the best way I could. In one instance I was blocked by
a high ledge with no way of getting around it. After giving all
the line and backing on the reel, the only recourse was to point
the rod tip directly at the fish. The fly broke off at its junction
with the leader the weakest link In the whole chain and I
was left reeling in some 200 feet of slack line. Often, when the
fisherman thinks that he has the rainbow fought to a standstill
and endeavors to bring him to net, he will discover that the

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 99

fish has yet enongh fight left to make at least one more desper-
ate attempt to escape probably when he sees the net and the
fisherman, he is roused to make one last supreme effort for
freedom. It never pays to hurry the fight. Sooner or later, If
the tackle holds and the hook does not pull out, the trout can
be brought to the net.

Several experiences that I have undergone in my rainbow
fishing may be worth relating. One was on a stream in Idaho,
the lower part of which was somewhat depleted by a portion
of the water, at least half, being diverted for irrigation. The
low water had concentrated the fish in the deeper pools and
runs. The stream had been heavily fished during the season,
and the trout, for rainbow 7 , were extremely wise and selective.
As I approached one run, I observed the rise of a mammoth
trout. There was a fair hatch on at the time, and the trout had
been responding to the artificial. The pool, or deep run, was
probably about 25 feet long and at the lower end was choked
with a dense log jam. I was using a fairly light rod for such a
large fish, my terminal tackle consisting of a gx leader and a
No. 14 Quill Gordon fly. The big trout kept on feeding at
intervals, while I took what I considered the proper position
for a cast. I well realized the odds against me with the light
leader and the possibility of a run into the log jam. The fly
dropped onto the water some 4 or 5 feet above the fish. He
rose to it but refused the offering. I went on up the river, and
in an hour I returned. There was no sign of the fish, and a
few casts brought no rise. In this particular stream, as in many
others at this time of the year, the fish have a definite surface-
feeding period, taking place at about the same time each day,
depending somewiiat on the temperature of not only the pre-
vious night but the daytime as well.

Three days later I visited the same spot at the same time, on
this occasion armed with a heavier rod, a stronger leader, and
a No. 12 fly. I was well aware of the fact that this was the incor-
rect procedure. Once a fish has refused a fly after investigating
it, a smaller fly is usually indicated. How T ever, with the big
hazard of the sunken logs, it was necessary to be able at least

ioo Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

to try and turn this big trout were he to endeavor to take
refuge under the jam.

The big fish was rising, the cast was made, and this time he
took with a suddenness that was surprising. He made one run
down the pool, turned and headed up through the run, making
a jump and a tremendous splash at the upper end. The fight
then settled down to a give-and-take battle until the fish de-
cided, finally, to go under the logs. All possible pressure was
put on the tackle, but the trout, even though partially ex-
hausted, was able to get under cover. He could not be turned
at least, the risk of breaking the leader or pulling out the hook
was too great to take. The only hope was to keep a fairly taut
line and pray that the fish would come out from under the logs
without wrapping the leader around them.

Seconds, in a situation of this kind, pass with the slowness
of hours. One knows that the fish is probably resting, gaining
strength to renew the fight or hopelessly to entangle your out-
fit. Suddenly he came out, and the leader was clear. The rest
of the battle took place out in the open water. The trout tried
only once again to take refuge under the logs, but he had so
spent his strength that it was possible to keep him clear. He
finally turned over on his side and was carefully drawn to a
sandy beach and picked up by hand. He tipped the scales, two
hours after, at 514 pounds. This was the prize fish of a four
weeks* fishing trip on this river.

This incident is cited to impress upon the reader once more
that one never knows when an opportunity for a big fish may
present itself. Here on a stream in very low water, where many
fishermen had fished with all types of lures, in the middle part
of a hot day, I took my best trout of the season, even after
having missed him a few days before.

There are certain locations on streams where big trout take
up feeding positions and which often present almost insur-
mountable difficulties to the angler. Cover for big fish may be
afforded by a log jam, dead branches of a side-stream willow,
roots of trees, and in the slower flowing meadow streams by
weeds or moss.

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 101

A big trout may look for surface feed In front, at one side,
or behind such cover. One Is almost certain that, when a big
fish is hooked adjacent to any such hazard, he will normally
seek refuge In such a tangle. We are always willing to take a
chance and make our cast anyway. If the fish takes our offering
near such cover, we most generally lose him. The leader be-
comes tangled in the obstacle, and the fly breaks off.

There is not much that can be done in a situation of this
nature. However, on a few occasions I have been successful
in hooking and landing a large trout under such unfavorable
conditions. When one of these big trout rises to the fly and
is hooked, there Is a split second when he appears to be stunned
before he becomes aware of his predicament. Either this or
his reaction Is slower than ours. It Is such a short Interval that
the fisherman must be prepared to act more quickly than the
fish.

In this fraction of a second we can sometimes Instantly lead
him away from the obstacle by a quick pull In the opposite
direction and keep him moving into a more advantageous
location to the fisherman. It will not always work, but there
are times that It will. It is as though we imparted an Initial
movement to the trout, making up his mind for him so to
speak.

I was fishing the Big Wood River of Idaho In the gorge below
Magic Reservoir and raised a large fish that missed the fly.
His feeding position was behind a large log jam. The picture
between pages 134 and 135 Illustrates this type of water, al-
though it was taken of another part of this river. A few days
later I was again near this location and decided to try for the
same trout. I well knew the odds were all in favor of the fish if
he was still there. It was worth a try anyway.

I made my cast, having purposely put on a heavier leader
and a larger fly. He took savagely. This time I was ready and
instantly applied all the pressure the outfit would take. It
worked. Before the trout's reactions could function, I had
literally forced him out into the open into the swifter current.
I finally netted a 3 impound rainbow. Maybe the current

10 2 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

helped, but anyway I took my prize. Under circumstances

such as these the method Is worth keeping in mind.

EASTERN BROOK

No account of the different species of trout would be com-
plete without mention, at least, of the native Eastern brook
trout (Salvelinus fontinalis], sometimes referred to as ''speck-
led trout" and in the West as "Eastern brook."

This was the first trout I ever caught. Strictly speaking, he
is not a trout but a char. From that day to the present, when-
ever I take one, my memories and thoughts go back to my boy-
hood and early manhood in the Catskills and Adirondacks of
New York State to those shaded streams, those deep, tree-
lined pools of the smaller streams. Again I am transported to
a certain brook deep in the wilds of the Adirondacks, dis-
turbed by no one. It was no great accomplishment in those
days to fill a creel if one so desired. There was no limit except
that dictated by the sportsman's conscience.

The Eastern brook is a truly beautiful fish in its markings.
The brilliant spots, the white-edged fins, the vermiculated
back, give it a beauty not to be equaled by any other trout.
The golden of the high Western mountains is beautiful to
behold when it comes fresh from some high-altitude water,
but the Eastern bro^k in my opinion far surpasses all other
trout in this respect.

This is the native trout of such famous streams as the Nipi-
gon, the Alagash of Maine, many of the Adirondack rivers,
and the brooks of the New England states. It was the original
trout of all the Appalachian streams before the introduction
of foreign species. With the increase of population and the
building of better roads and with the relative ease, compared
to other species, with which it could be caught, it was not long
before it became nearly depleted, even with the planting pro-
gram adopted by the different states. Now most of the "brook-
ies" one catches from our streams are those that have been
hatchery raised.

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 103

You will admit, I believe, that its taste is excellent and
possibly preferable to all other species. It brings back to mind
the open campfire, bacon sizzling in the pan, the aroma of
coffee after a day on some remote heavily wooded stream.

This fish will rise to the dry fly and is probably the easiest
of all trout to catch. It is not a selective fish when it comes to
the fly. One associates it with the smaller streams or expects to
find it in the upper reaches of larger streams, in the cold,
spring-fed tributaries or near the sources of the large rivers.
Introduced into the Western w T aters, it has done well in its
newer location. Some of the Western lakes have produced
large-sized Eastern brook. On the hard-fished streams, however,
its survival rate, compared with that of the brown, is low. Its
food value is excellent.

The Eastern brook has the habit of fighting deep. Rarely,
if ever, in my experience has it broken water in its struggle for
freedom, and it does not have the endurance to sustain the
battle as long as the rainbow or the brown. If you are fishing a
small stream where beaver have built their dams, you are
reasonably sure to find this trout. It seems to thrive in the
ponds above the dams.

I remember fishing the high country of northern New Mex-
ico on one of the large cattle ranches. It was gorgeous country.
Most of my fishing was done on a stream averaging about go
feet wide. One afternoon I decided I would change the scenery
and try a very small brook a mile or two above camp. It was a
stream that flowed partly through a vega, or open meadow,
along which grew lush grasses. At times it would be bordered
by aspen and evergreen. The timber was dwarfed, as the eleva-
tion was somewhere above the i i,ooo-foot mark. In most places
the little brook was exceedingly narrow, often with vertical
banks 2 or 3 feet above the water's edge. The farther up the
brook one went, the narrower and smaller it became. There
were a few small pools where the stream would widen out to
possibly 6 feet, but on the whole it was just a tiny brook, in
many places not wider than 18 inches to 2 feet between the

104 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

vertical meadow banks. Indeed, It was often a matter of ex-
ercising the greatest caution and accuracy to drop a fly onto
the water rather than on the overhanging grass.

Only in the very early years of my fishing life have I seen
trout more willing to cooperate with the fisherman than those
of this tiny brook. Hardly a trickle in places, it yielded a rise
on nearly every cast that hit the water. For such a small stream
the average size of the fish was remarkable, the largest being
13 or 14 inches, the smallest around 9. What the trout lacked
In size they made up In numbers.

Upon returning to camp I discovered that I was probably
the only person who had fished this stream In many years. This
could very readily be possible, as It was over 100 miles from
the nearest railroad and accessible only on horseback or on
foot. Also It was on private property, and fishermen were not
welcome except as guests of the owner, one of which I was at
the time. All the fish were Eastern brookles,

THE CUTTHROAT TROUT

The cutthroat of the Rockies (Salmo clarkii) Is, in Its ac-
tions when hooked, very similar to the Eastern brook, al-
though It In no way belongs to the same species. It Is found in
many of the Western streams with the rainbow. Its distinguish-
ing marking Is the brilliant red slash under the throat in front
of the gill covers. The first time one catches this trout he has
no difficulty in Identifying it because of this characteristic
marking. The cutthroat rises to the dry fly and, when hooked,
fights deep and, like the Eastern brook, does not break water.
Its fight Is somewhat more sustained than that of the Eastern
brook but does not equal that of the rainbow or the brown.
On the small tributary streams, like the Eastern brook, it often
predominates. Its food value Is excellent, particularly In sizes
up to 10 or 1 1 Inches. As a food fish it Is much preferred by
the native Inhabitants; at least this Is the opinion of many of
my friends who live In the country where this fish Is found.
I have discovered that often the cutthroat will take up a He
In the shallower waters along the edge of the stream, often

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 105

close to overhanging branches. It seerns to prefer the less
rapid water.

THE DOLLY VARDEN (Salvelinus spcctabilis)

My experiences with the Dolly Varden or bull trout, as It
is known locally, have been limited to those times I have fished
for salmon on the Salmon River near Upper Stanley in Idaho.
I have never intentionally fished for the Dolly, but instead of
a salmon striking my lure this trout has taken it.

Strictly speaking, the Dolly Varden is not a trout but a char.
The natives look upon it with considerable disfavor. It is a
scavenger and follows the salmon to the spawning beds where
it preys upon the fresh salmon spawn. In my opinion it is a
beautifully marked fish. On those occasions where I have en-
gaged them, they put up a good fight. I well remember the first
one I ever hooked and landed. I had been fishing for hours
without a strike from any fish. Suddenly I hooked what I sup
posed to be a jack salmon. The fight in the swift water left no
doubt in my mind that I was at least fighting a worthy antago-
nist. Finally, as I brought my catch near shore, the guide in-
formed me in more or less contemptuous tones that I had a
Dolly. He did not consider the fish fit for consumption and was
rather sarcastic when I insisted that I wanted to keep it.

I understand that it will, on occasion, rise to a wet fly, but
as it is not primarily a dry-fly fish, I have never seriously con-
sidered trying for it on my fishing trips.

Two other fish, not trout, might be mentioned if the reader
fishes Western waters. They are the "grayling" and the "Rocky
Mountain whitefish."

My experience with the grayling has been confined ex-
clusively to the Gallatin River of Montana. Its predominating
characteristic is the large, iridescent dorsal fin. It is a streaift-
lined fish with shallow body and definite forked tail. It rises
to the dry fly, has a tender, sucker-shaped mouth, and is more
difficult to hook than most trout. Its fight consists of an initial
run, not followed by a sustained resistance, and it gives up the
battle much sooner than any trout. The food value is good.

io6 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

1 used to catch and release many grayling In this river In
the years before the war, but In my fishing on this stream since
the war, I have not taken a single grayling. My fishing com-
panions have had the same experience. In fact, the proprietor
of the ranch where I stay when visiting this area has asked me
on several occasions to bring In a grayling so that the nonfishlng
guests could see what one looked like. So far 1 have been un-
able to accommodate him. In all fairness and from a purely
personal viewpoint, I wish to state that I am just as well pleased
that I have not been able to fill the order for a grayling, as I
consider this fish, from the sporting angle, far Inferior to any
trout that swims the Gallatin.

It was before the war that one day I met a fisherman of no
mean ability. His equipment was entirely of English manu-
facture, and the distinctive "burr" in his speech Immediately
Identified him as a Scotchman. We sat down on the bank to-
gether, and after we had exchanged the usual fishing comments
so characteristic of all dry-fly devotees, I learned that he had
come to America that summer for just one reason to catch a
grayling. It was his third day on the river, and his ambition
to take a grayling had been fulfilled. He admitted that It had
been an unforgettable experience but agreed with me that
taking a rainbow was now a much more thrilling one.

The other fish Rocky Mountain whltefish is lower in the
scale of game fish than any others that swim the Rocky Moun-
tain streams. This, too, unfortunately takes the dry fly. It is
harder to hook than the trout but has the unwelcome habit
of returning time and time again to the fly. Once hooked it
fights deep. Its mouth is shaped like a sucker's. When taken in
the hand to be unhooked, it has the habit of making a dis-
agreeable noise as though it were being tortured. The white-
fifeh seem to travel in schools, and in the evening I have seen
them rising In large numbers to surface food. One is always
disturbed on such occasions, not knowing but that they might
be trout or that a good rainbow might be In their midst. Their
food value is fair many of the native Inhabitants claim that
smoked wfaitefish is a great delicacy. These are not trout and

Trout Species and Some Experiences with Them 107

are mentioned only because, like the grayling, they will take
a dry fly. At times they can be a distinct nuisance.

I purposely omit the "steelhead" since it Is an ocean-run fish
and Is not, primarily, a dry-fly trout. I must admit, however,
that for fighting qualities there Is no fish that can compare
with the steelhead. Once you catch a steelhead, you will never
again be the same person. I have caught my share of them, but
Intentionally leave them out o a book devoted to the dry fly.

^

r-out

To MAKE the fly float naturally on the water surface Is the
most difficult problem facing the dry-fly fisherman. Undoubt-
edly, even the most expert never quite accomplishes this de-
sideratum. In nature there Is no connection between the float-
Ing fly and any outside object. It Is free to float as the current
carries It- Nothing will hinder Its path except possibly a draft
or a puff of wind. It floats with the surface current.

Any extraneous Influence that tends to alter the natural
float of the artificial or the natural fly on the surface of the
stream will warn the trout that danger lurks. Trout are usually
foraging, and as long as they are not disturbed by any outside
influence, such as a man walking- along a bank, casting his
shadow on the water, or wading noisily up the stream, they
will continue their feeding. A bird flying over the water or
an animal Hearing the stream will send them hurrying to
cover.

The Western water ousel Is a bird that has the habit of
teetering up and down on a rock along the stream as well as
taking Its food from under water. This bird has done Its share
to spoil everyone's fishing. As soon as you get within 20 or
30 feet, the ousel will take off from Its perch and, with a series
of short dips Into the water, go flying- upstream, ruining every
pool or run for the angler. If the birds would only be content
to limit themselves to one stretch of water, we could forgive

108

Trout Habits 109

them, but they have the habit of keeping just ahead of one for
a half mile or so, spoiling all the water in this distance. Some
nature lovers spend hours studying the habits of the ousel,
watching it gather food, dive in and out of a waterfall and flit
across the streams, but the fly fisherman, if he is like me, has
only exasperated admiration for this winged nuisance.

The approach to any stream should be a matter of extreme
consideration and care. A meadow stream that meanders in
a series of loops and often is unprotected by any side cover is
to be approached with caution. The undercut banks often
afford a lurking place for big fish. When they are feeding on
surface food, these trout offer some excellent sport. Vibrations
of the carelessly walking fisherman will put them down be-
fore the first cast has been made, and the form of the fisher-
man against the open sky will have the same result. It is here
that the fisherman needs to exercise extreme caution. Quite
often a long cast is necessary there must be no splashing, no
undue hurry or careless wading.

On one fishing trip, there was a giant trout in a Sierra
stream. One morning as I came around the bend of this creek
I discovered him feeding on small fry in a shallow spring run
that emptied into the main stream. The side run was prob-
ably 6 to 8 inches deep before it joined the main creek, which
had deep pools with undercut banks. Suddenly I saw a commo-
tion in the small side-spring run. It was this mammoth trout
chasing small minnows. My position was such that I could
not make a successful cast without scaring this leviathan.

I bided my time, and the next morning approached from
a more advantageous position. The big trout w r as at it again.
What was to be a carefully placed cast fell short of the feeding
trout by about 5 feet. Imagine my surprise when this mam-
moth turned and came rushing tow r ard the floating fly. With-
out exaggeration, I could almost look down his throat as he
took the fly. In utter astonishment I set the hook. With the
speed of lightning the big fish entered the main flow and went
rushing up the stream around a bend in the meandering creek.
The battle was short-lived. With the bend of the stream and

no Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

the moss that Is so thick In this particular water in the fish's
favor, the fly broke off in the trout's mouth. It was probably
the largest trout that I had ever hooked.

For days, over a period of weeks, I returned to this spot in
hopes of once more engaging such a fish. Never again did the
opportunity present itself. Once was enough for this magnifi-
cent trout. The consolation was, and it is not wholly a sour-
grape consolation, that it was possible to fool and to hook a
fish of such size on a dry fly when the trout was feeding on small
minnows. This particular stream contains trout up to 13
pounds, with not a few running from 8 to 10 pounds. My
monster was of this class and a fitting trophy for any fisherman.

When you raise a good fish but he refuses the fly and you
do not touch him with the hook, it is a good policy to leave
him alone. It is always a temptation to drop the fly above the
place where he was raised and immediately to try for him
again. My advice is to let him rest at least twenty minutes or
even longer.

You may be interested in a 22-inch fish taken on an Idaho
river a few years ago by my friend Jack. He had been fishing
a long run, and at the upper end he found a small but fairly
deep pocket. It was Just above an overhanging willow. Now
at times a fish will select such cover as his hiding place, moving
out when in search of food, if such is available on the surface
of the stream. In this case, the rainbow had taken a position
in the pocket just ahead of the willow, where he could com-
mand a view of floating food as it came down the current.
Jack dropped his fly in this run, and the big trout rose to the
offering but missed the fly. He was permitted to rest from ten
o'clock in the morning until late in the afternoon, around five
o'clock, when Jack returned downstream. He tried for the
trout the second time, and he rose to the fly, was securely
hooked, and the battle was on. After several long runs and
considerable aerial acrobatics, he was brought to net. Had he
been cast over immediately after the first rise in the morning,
he probably would have refused the fly.

Resist the temptation to cast over a fish after having raised

Trout Habits m

him once; come back later. After all, the fish Is not going to
leave his location.

There are exceptions, rare ones, of course, to the common
experience of large trout being scared by man possibly be-
cause they may have one-track minds. Witness an incident
on the Neversink many years ago, repeated not a few times
since on other streams.

A small trout of some y inches was being played on a dry fly.
It was being brought in as fast as possible in order to release
it, when from under an overhanging bush there darted a large
fish which took after the smaller one. The small trout was
brought in almost to the fisherman's feet before the larger one
seemed aware of his presence, and only then did he reluc-
tantly give up the chase to beat a safe retreat. The cannibal
must have seen the angler, but persisted in darting after the
smaller trout in quest of food. Two or three times since, this
same procedure has taken place on Western streams. It is a
peculiar thing, but one instinctively tries to take the smaller
fish away from the larger trout, and after several occurrei^s
of this kind, you make up your mind that the next time it hap-
pens you will do a little experimenting of your own and take
advantage of such a situation.

A year or two later, on the upper Owens River in California,
the opportunity came again. This time a large Loch Leven took
out from under an undercut bank directly opposite the place
where the small fish was hooked. After the former experience,
my fisherman friend Gus decided to reverse the process. In-
stead of pulling the tired little fish in, he permitted it to drift
with the current, the line in the meantime being stripped from
the reel. The large trout took the little one in one gulp. After
waiting for what seemed an eternity but was actually only a
matter of seconds, he applied tension and then only gently.
His hope was that the small trout had been lightly hooked in
the lip and that the big fish would swallow the smaller one
that the hook would become disengaged and upon its release
would become imbedded in the Loch Leven's stomach.

All went as desired for four or five minutes in feet, long

112 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

enoiigh for him to shout to me some distance downstream
where I was fishing to come and see the fun. The situation
called for extremely careful playing of the fish no "horsing,"
no undue pressure on the equipment. Once the big trout was
almost in the net. Suddenly the line went slack. Upon retriev-
ing, he found that there was a badly mutilated small trout with
the fly firmly imbedded in the back of its mouth. The big
fish had been played merely by the tension on the line and his
inability to get rid of the little one until finally he regurgi-
tated it. It seems that when a big fish chases a smaller one that
appears to be wounded, it is oblivious of the presence of the
fisherman.

We sometimes wonder how long it will be, after a fish has
been hooked but escapes, before It will return to the fly. Three
experiences stand out in my mind. In fact, the result of one
of these experiences is one of three trophies now adorning my
dining-room wall a large rainbow from an Idaho stream. This
prize specimen was hooked at noon on a Sunday and played
for some time, but finally the leader broke at the point where
the iy was tied. The spot where this big fish w r as hooked was
a small pocket directly behind a willow room for only one
good-sized trout. Returning there at the same time of day a
couple of days later, I could not raise him. Three more days
elapsed, and I tried for him again, with no success. Was the
big fish still there, I wondered.

One week later, almost to the minute, I cast over the spot
for five or six casts. On about the seventh cast there was a swirl
and he was on again. A fight ensued that lasted all of ten
minutes, with the odds, at first, very much In favor of the fish.
He made runs up and down the stream, finally endeavoring
to return to the cover of a dead willow sweeping the far bank.
At this stage of the battle, the fish was becoming so tired that
it was possible to turn him away from the danger of the
willows. At last he was ready for the net, and upon examining
his mouth I could see where the former fly had been imbedded,
although the fly Itself was gone probably rubbed out against
the bottom until it became dislodged.

Trout Habits ng

Another time, in the High Sierra of California, a 1 7-Inch
Loch Leven was hooked by my fishing companion, Joe Mears.
He was using one of Hewitt's silver-nitrate leaders and a Light
Cahill fly tied the night before. After quite a fight, the fish
went under a rock ledge bordering the stream, and the leader
broke at the first joint. One week later Joe was again on the
stream, casting over the same spot. A fish rolled up to the fly,
and a tough fight followed. This particular stream is full of
moss, a place into which the browns always head. This fish
was no exception, but by walking downstream below the fish
and gently keeping a tension on the line, Joe could work the
trout out of the flowing weeds, with the grain, you might say.
It was only by this means that he was finally brought to net.
Here, hanging from the mouth of the fish, was the end of a
black leader the silver-nitrate one and in its mouth, firmly
imbedded, were the remains of the Light Cahill fly. There was
no question in my mind or in Joe's but that this was the identi-
cal fish of the week before.

On a stream in Montana a rainbow was hooked, played,
and released a 1 4-inch trout. This fish had been raised from
a side pocket twice before but had not been hooked. I knew
its position, and every time I fished this portion of the river,
I would try for the same fish. Twice he came for the fly but was
missed on the strike. Finally, he was hooked. I released him,
and three days later he came for the fly, w r as again landed, and
examined. In the same spot on his jaw where I had hooked
him three days before was a definite wound of the first en-
counter. It was surely the same trout. From these experiences
might be drawn a conclusion that three days, and possibly a
week, must elapse before one can successfully hook the same
fish again.

Many discussions, almost reaching arguments, have occurred
when it comes to the question of the harm done trout In re-
turning them to the water. As was mentioned at the beginning,
this book deals with the dry fly exclusively. It is the opinion
of those who have studied the question that no serious harm
Is done. The sting of the hook undoubtedly does hurt 'the

114 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

fish, but as far as the hook goes, no permanent injury results.

The fish is undoubtedly scared when it fights the tension ap-
plied. Many times I have purposely eased off on the tension,
and the fish will quite often cease struggling against the fisher-
man. As soon as a pull is put on it again, it will renew the fight.

The trout's nervous system is not so highly developed as a
human's; it cannot reason; but instinctively, when hooked,
it tries to get away from the lure. Much depends on the way a
trout is handled when being released. It is pretty well estab-
lished at present that a dry hand should be used rather than
a wet one. The reason is that it is not so much the fish's ex-
terior as its interior that may be injured. With a wet hand the
fish has to be held much more tightly because of its slippery
surface. This squeezing is apt to cause permanent injury to it
internally. With a dry hand the fish can be held much more
lightly and with the same security.

Many of us have released uncounted numbers of trout with
the feeling that they have not been permanently injured. With
a fly they are usually lip-hooked, but on some occasions the fly
may be imbedded deeply. In this case, it seems reasonable
to believe that, if the fish bleeds when the hook is released, it
should be killed and not returned to the water. On a fly it is
not often that this becomes necessary,

When you visit a new stream for the first time, you may be
at a loss to know whether or not the stage of the water is
normal. Often if it is high and clear, it is possible to look along
the edges and by observing the vegetation that sometimes
borders the stream tell whether or not this is the case. If you
see grass under the water, even at no great depth, you can
assume that there exists a higher than normal water condition.
It is not a difficult matter to tell when low water exists. The
rocks in the stream will show a watermark of normal height
which now appears above the surface of the stream. With high
clear water the dry fly is not so effective as when there are
normal or slightly subnormal heights. As long as the stream
is clear, there is always a chance that you may interest the
trout with your flies.

Trout Habits 115

We were once touring through the southern Appalachians
and had stopped for a few days on the Oconalufay In North
Carolina. The weather was clear and mild, although a few
days before there had been enough rain to raise the river. The
reports from the native fishermen were not too encouraging.
We had time to spare so decided to give It a whirl. There were
three of us, and after the day's fishing we met at the car and
compared notes. All of us, fishing Independently* had come
to the same conclusion, viz., the trout we caught were all taken
along the edges of the current In the relatively slower and
shallower water. They had not risen with the sudden flash of
the usual rainbow but with a much more deliberate strike.
Probably they had been gorged with food washed in by the
high water and were not too Interested In surface flies. When
the fish were cleaned, we found that they were literally stuffed
with all sorts of underwater life". The second day the water
had fallen slightly, and the fish activity Increased; by the third
day the water was at a normal stage, and the trout responded
with much more avidity, being fast on the rise and eager to
accept our offerings.

It is extremely important to remember that, regardless of
what part of the country you fish, you will find that the indi-
vidual habits of the rainbow, the brown, the brookie, or any
other species of trout are the same. If you are able to catch
trout In one part of the United States, you will not have to
change your fishing tactics just because you may be on a water
far away from your favorite stream.

It is Impossible to predict what any trout will do. You can
fish along for many days or even weeks, and all at once some-
thing may happen to change your ideas of trout habits. You
may have paused In midstream In the swift water to fill or light
your pipe. Your rod Is held in the crook of your arm, and line,
leader, and fly are trailing downstream, possibly 15 or 20 feet
away. Suddenly you feel a sharp tug, and there below you is a
fish that has seized your fly and Is fighting to get away. Just
why he should take this particular moment when you are
otherwise engaged to grab your fly no one knows.

n6 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

There are two men who live in a small town in the Berk-
shires o Massachusetts and who are friends of long standing.
There has always been a pleasant rivalry between the two,
and for want of better names, let's call them Bill and John.
Both are in business in the same town. Bill is not an orthodox
dry-fly man, although he prefers a dry fly to any other lure.
However, if the water is higher than normal, he will use a
wet fly, and if that does not produce, he is not adverse to try-
ing even a spinner. John limits his fishing activities to a dry
fly, and on rare occasions when water conditions are not con-
ducive to the dry, he will switch to the wet. His favorite wet
fly is a Royal Coachman Bucktail Streamer.

Just before the war, Bill had taken a large brown trout
from their favorite stream. It weighed an even 7 pounds,
so Bill had it mounted and hung in his store. His friend John
always suspected that it had been caught on a spinner because
the day it was taken the water was too high for much fly fish-
ing. Anyway, Bill always asked his friend when he visited him
in his store when he was going to catch a trout as large as the
one hanging on the wall. John would remark that some day he
would show him up.

It took many years to do this, but finally John was successful.
It happened in such an unorthodox manner that it is worth
mentioning if for no other reason than to show what may
happen on a trout stream to any of us. There had been a rain,
and the stream was a few inches higher than normal. The water
was decidedly off color, and a dry fly was out of the question,
John decided to try out his favorite streamer, the bucktail,
Royal Coachman. He had been fishing for hours with no suc-
cess the day was fast drawing to a close so he decided to head
for home. In order to do this, it was necessary to take to the
middle of the river and wade upstream a quarter of a mile to
get around a high ledge. John had just reached a point op-
posite the upper end of the ledge and was cautiously picking
his way across the stream through the deep water. He was
holding his rod in his right hand, while the line, leader, and
bucktail were trailing behind him some 20 feet or more down-

Trout Habits 117

stream. There was a sudden yank on the line. For a minute
John felt he had snagged a sunken log, but not for long. The
reel .started to sing, and the line melted off the spool with a
speed that was sickening. There was just one thing to do, and
John did it. He turned around and started down-river as fast
as he could make it through the swift, deep water.

The river deepened considerably below the ledge where a
large pool had been formed. It was here that the final stages
of the battle took place. It was nearly dark by the time John
subdued his trout and slowly brought him to the edge of the
pool. He was too large for his net, so he beached him on the
sandy shore formed by the quieter backwater of the pool. It
did not take him long to retrace his steps, cross the river, and
head for Bill's house. The two friends looked at the fish for a
minute, then went down to Bill's store and placed the trout
on the scales. It weighed 7 pounds and 14 ounces, nearly a
pound more than the mounted specimen looking down at
the two fishermen from the wall.

Here was a trophy that was caught by sheer luck and not by
any of the rules or laws of trout fishing. Just a few minutes
before John had waded through the very spot where the trout
had seized his dangling fly. He had violated all the principles
of trout fishing, yet the mammoth fish not only took the fly
but hooked itself. We cannot say that this may be classed as a
trout habit, but it does show that at times even trout may do
the unexpected.

\^afcn i/0

\^atcn

I ASSUME that the "purist," the man who fishes exclusively with
the dry fly, will return many of his fish. Whether, however, he
should return the greater number of Ms trout, if not all, is a
moot question.

As one progresses through the various stages of this most
interesting sport, he probably follows a path somewhat as
follows: As a boy he may cut himself a willow pole, beg some
hooks, dig some worms, and go < fishing." Once he catches a
few, he will never be the same again. He falls a victim to
"fishitis." No other disease becomes so permanent, and in-
stead of the victim's recovering, the sickness becomes more
firmly imbedded. After a time he will encounter a fly fisher-
man on his stream, and his curiosity will be aroused. The fly
fisherman may even point out to the youth the advantages of
his method and the greater possibilities of his sport. As time
goes on, our fisherman acquires the additional tackle needed
for wet-fly fishing. He goes through this stage some never go
beyond it until finally he tries the dry fly. Once he catches
a trout on the dry fly, he is, in a great majority of cases, a
changed man. Rarely will he revert to any other method, as
long as stream and atmospheric conditions are conducive.

The fisherman lives for this alone. His leisure hours are

118

Catch Your Limit or Limit Your Catch zig

now spent on the stream, and in closed season his hours are
spent in grooming the tackle, reading of the experiences o
others, tying flies, and dreaming of the time when he will
again be facing upstream casting over his favorite water.

His progress now takes on another form, that of fishing for
the pure love of fishing and not with the weight of the creel con-
tents in his mind. He is strangely content to raise a fish. He may
work over a big trout for hours not consecutive hours, but
day after day he will be drawn to this spot with the hope that
he may raise this fish and, if fortune is kind, may hook and
perhaps handle him.

To return now to this question of releasing fish after one
has caught them. After all, why not? One may keep a few for
food, but why keep more? Our fisherman friend, in his de-
velopment, will reach a point where he takes the attitude that
a fish which has given him his sport is entitled to its freedom.
If it is a good trout, one of fair size, you can always return
another time and perhaps catch him again. He was a worthy
antagonist, and the second time you take him you will get the
feeling that you are master of the situation.

So far, this question of returning fish has been considered
purely from the ethical side. From the standpoint of economics,
it can safely be said that returning a portion of your catch is
good sportsmanship and helps to keep up the stream popula-
tion. One cannot help feeling that the man who returns from
his trip to boast that he has taken limits with more or less regu-
larity is of the infiated-ego type rather than the conservationist.

Let me cite an experience on the Gallatin River in Mon-
tana before the war. I had been fishing for several hours with
fair success, working a particularly enticing run for possibly
an hour. I had taken some four or five fair trout from this
particular stretch of the stream and was about to move on
upstream when a man whom I had not noticed before ap-
proached me from the bank. It became evident that this ap-
proaching gentleman was the game warden. The following
conversation took place:

"How do you do? Any luck?" asked the warden.

I2O Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

C4 Fairly good/* I replied.

**I notice you have no creel/* said the law.

"Well, I don't need these fish, so I don't carry one/' I an-
swered.

**I noticed you put your fish all back In the stream I've
been watching you from the bank for nearly half an hour/'
remarked the warden.

"That's correct. What else could I do if I don't need them?"
I said.

"Well, all I can say/' said the law, "Is that I wish we had
more fishermen like you. This stream Is getting a heavy pun-
ishment, and my greatest problem Is to apprehend those fel-
lows who are not even content to stop when they get the legal
limit. While I'm here, I'm supposed to check up on your
license, but anyone who keeps as few fish as you do w r ould not
neglect to buy his license, I'm sure/'

Just for the record I did have my license as well as several
others for the Western states.

Many people ask me, with an air of derisive skepticism,
"What do you fish for, If you don't want the fish?"

Well, the fish are wanted all right, but not permanently
just long enough to satisfy the fisherman that he can still fool
a trout now and then. He has as many times been fooled by
the fish. The longer he lives, the more he realizes how much
more there Is to learn In this game. If his span of years could
be doubled, he might then begin to know something about
the dry-fly method. Just when you think you have the tech-
nique licked and have been able to acquit yourself with credit,
the very next day the fish show you how very little you know,
after all.

This is, I believe, what makes the sport so intriguing the
uncertainty, the fact that there is always something more to
learn, that there are so many approaches which have not yet
been tried. If we knew that every time we went onto the stream
we could take all the trout we wanted, the sport would soon
pall on us, and we would give It up for some more Interesting
relaxation. The things in life that we enjoy the most are those

Catch Your Limit or Limit Your Catch 121

for which we have to work and for which there are no set rules
of attainment.

The following Is another Instance of not returning fish to
the water. A man with whom I had fished on several trips
asked me If I would mind teaching his son the essentials of
the dry-fly method. A young man Interested in this sport should
be encouraged. After a few days of training, this apt pupil had
mastered the essentials and then went on his own. I have al-
ways tried to impress the beginner, or the learner, with the
Importance of observing the game laws. So I did with this
young man.

Several years later, on my way home from a fishing trip In
the High Sierra of California, I came to a road block and was
asked to let the warden inspect my car for fish or game. After
I had been checked, I proceeded on my way. A few evenings
thereafter, when I was calling on the young man's father, I
mentioned that I had been checked by the game warden on
the way home. Imagine my surprise when the young man's
father said, "Why, only the night before my son came down
from the mountains with 175 trout packed in snow In a wash
boiler in the back of his car." Too bad that the evenings could
not have been reversed.

I somehow felt that I was Indirectly responsible for such a
violation in having taught the young man well enough to
enable him to catch as many fish as he did. True, they had
been stored In a cooler for a week, but the law is definite in
Its Interpretation that not more than 15 trout are to be in one's
possession. It was a flagrant violation, and no excuse is possible
for such a disregard of the law. Fortunately, there are very few
people who will stoop so IOW T as to spoil their own sport by
playing the part of a "game hog."

Now, what constitutes "good fishing"? A few of my experi-
ences would stand out for many fishermen as the very acme of
sport. In my opinion, however, these do not show what con-
stitutes good fishing. First, let us see what these few experi-
ences were, then return to the question of good fishing from
another angle.

122 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

In my late teens and early twenties, the Adlrondacks of New
York were comparatively wild. The automobile was still in
the early stage of development, and good roads did not exist
all over remote areas as they do today. There was a tributary
to the South Fork of the Moose River a small stream, slow
flowing, heavily brushed, and fishable only by wading up the
middle or along the shallow edge. It could be reached only by
a lo-mile hike through heavy timber. There was no trail. One
simply had to follow the contour of the terrain with compass
and a keen sense of direction.

Early in the summer this stream was infested with mosqui-
toes, black flies, and "punkies," which made up In the ferocity
of their bite for what they lacked In size. It took a hardy indi-,
vldual or a <s dyed-In-the-wool" angler to endure the torture
these pests Inflicted In order to enjoy the rewards of the stream.
The rewards, however, were fantastic. "Native" trout, or, as
the Westerner would say, "Eastern brook," Inhabited this
stream. Any type of fly, wet or dry, any pattern was effective.
All one needed to do was to cast it out on the surface, and
several trout ranging from 9 to 14 inches would make a rush
for It, each trying, In Ms eagerness, to get there ahead of his
competitors. It was no trouble to catch all you wanted. But as
the automobile developed and the good roads followed, it was
not long before this stream was fairly accessible, with the result
that In a few years it became just another one of those hard-
fished trout streams.

Another such place where the fishing was comparable to
this, and probably still is, was In northern New Mexico. This
country is accessible only by automobile and then by horse-
back. It Is over 10,000 feet In elevation and lies within the
boundary of a privately owned ranch of some 300,000 or
400,000 acres a country where elk, deer, wild turkey, some
bear, and not a few mountain lion and bobcat flourish. A
wild country, It boasts the distinction of never having had
many inhabitants. Its sheer beauty Is breathtaking, and the
meadows are lush with grass at 10,000 feet. The Sangre de

Catch Your Limit or Limit Your Catch 123

Crlstos rise abruptly from the meadows to an elevation of over

12,000 feet.

The streams are not large and are very cold from the Icy
springs that feed them and from the melting snow of the high
peaks. It was my good fortune to be invited here for a week's
fishing during four consecutive summers as the guest of one
of the South west's most prominent citizens. It was "fishing
de luxe" no worry about the meals or who was to wash the
dishes. Everything that could be wished for was provided.

My fishing diary is open before me to the pages where J
describe this country and the fishing.

"On Castilla No. 2 with my host. There are more fish here
than on any stream that I have ever fished since my earl)
years in the Adirondacks. Cutthroat, rainbow, and Eastern
brook. I took, by actual count, 75 in two hours* fishing on a
Light Cahill, size 14. These were fish actually released the
count does not include the ones that were lightly hooked and
were not handled. The largest trout w T as 14 inches, with man)
at 12 inches. It is a very small stream, possibly averaging 15 feet
in width, with pools, some white water, and many smooth
glides. In the same length of time I have never caught as man)
trout on dry fly. The country surrounding is an inspiration
the heavy grass along the stream, the flower-filled meadow 2
riot of color, and the majestic peaks rising sheer above us. Il
is entirely unspoiled. My host has informed me that member!
of our party are the only ones that have fished it and the onl)
ones that will this season/*

The diary continues on another stream as follows:

"Today fished Castilla No. i. I took 76 trout in 214 hours
about 30 per hour, that were handled and released. This doej
not include the ones that were hooked but escaped before ]
could release them. This fishing looks like an all-time recorc
to me. Used the No. 14 Light Cahill again, but these troui
would grab anything that comes their way/*

Now, some people would call this "good fishing/' but ]
would prefer to call it an experience that has never before beer

124 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

paralleled and most likely never will be, "If this Is not good
fishing, then, In heaven's name/' the novice may ask, "what
is?" Here Is a fine point open to discussion. In my humble

opinion good fishing involves a fair amount of perseverance,
skill, and constant vigilance, so necessary to interest a wary
trout. If I raise a fish every twenty minutes and hook and
handle one every half hour, with possibly a i6-Inch trout In
four or five hours* fishing, I have no complaint to make I
think I have had good fishing.

My satisfaction Is the greatest when I fish over water that
has been heavily pounded and succeed In taking some six or
eight fish of fair size in four hours* casting. There are times,
of course, when I may do better; there are times when I will
do worse. The point I am trying to drive home is that, what
we work for the hardest, we usually enjoy the most, and that
sometimes, even today, the fishing can be just too good.

When you come to know a stream and remember from year
to year where you raised a big trout, where you took a good
catch, where maybe you lost a big one, and where you possibly
fell Into the Icy water when the stream appeals to you as an
old friend, then you, too- are enjoying your sport. When you
reach the point in your fishing career where you feel, at the
end of a day's fly fishing, that you are not as much interested
In the weight of your creel as you are concerned with the
pleasures that you are to remember and cherish in the months
to come, then I believe you are reaping from your experiences
the full enjoyment that this great recreation offers.

Each year more fishermen take to the streams of America.
The fish and game commissions and the Federal government
do a splendid job in stocking, yet each year we see our fishing
getting poorer and poorer. What the answer may be to the
problem of giving the trout fisherman an adequate amount of
fish to ensure reasonably good sport is difficult to say. Already
limits have been reduced, and some of the states have limited
a few streams or portions thereof to fly fishing exclusively.
There are Instances where certain streams have been set aside
for the exclusive use of bait fishermen. There are a few streams

Catch Your Limit or Limit Your Catch 125

where limits have been cut to only several fish killed. Checking
stations have been set up in order to make creel-content counts.
By so doing it may be determined just how many fish survive
the onslaught of the fisherman, and some definite planting
program may be worked out to keep up the trout population.

Some streams have been closed over a period of years, while
some fish and game commissions permit alternate miles to be
closed one year and opened the next. It is questionable
whether the closing of a stream for a year or two and then
opening It really accomplishes the requirement. It has been
found that, when the stream is opened, the fishermen flock to
it In such hordes that the concentrated punishment it gets does
more harm in depleting the trout than had it been kept open
continuously.

The owners of privately controlled streams, particularly In
the East, have set up their own planting program. In addition,
they cut the take limit of fish killed to a minimum. You may
be permitted to catch more than you actually kill, but you are
requested to return excess trout to the stream. One's sport does
not suffer, and the trout population is kept at a good balance.
Some owners replace each fish killed with a comparable trout
from a rearing pond.

The situation is serious. It may be that the only way to im-
prove fishing Is to cut the limit take much lower than It now
exists. Many fishermen would take exception to this. They
feel that after paying their license fees they are entitled to
more trout. The license fees, by the w r ay, are too low in most
every state. When one considers the money fishermen Invest in
their equipment, the cost of the fishing trips, and what Is spent
on Incidentals to the sport, the fee Is ridiculously low.

When a man goes a long way from home, he likes to bring
back fish. He will argue against any further reduction in
limits. He may think his license fee is adequate already. As
far as the trout that he brings home go, If he were to sit down
and figure out what each fish cost him, he might be astounded.
True, we all write off cost against the fun we had and the
mental and physical well-being we bring home with us. In so

is6 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

far as economy Is concerned, we would be a lot better off If we
went to a fish market and bought a few pounds of fish for the
table. However, the psychology of the big he-sportsman would
lose a lot of Its glamour. True, the market fish might not taste
as good as the ones you caught, but they would be a lot cheaper.

I am not proposing that you stay home and confine your
fly casting to the grass plot in your back yard, but I do maintain
that, if enough fishermen would set for their limits something
under that allowed by law, the fishing would at least not be
any worse. The familiar expression, "If I don't take them,
someone else will,'* Is not necessarily true.

Maybe the raising of license fees to procure more money
to raise more fish is not the answer. Possibly If the fees were
raised, fewer fishermen would purchase them, and we might
get Into a law of diminishing returns and defeat the very ob-
ject we are after. If this should prove to be the case, then what
Is the answer? It would almost seem that we should cut the
legal limit of fish killed. It might help. One could keep on
fishing with a fly, and by carefully handling his fish he could
release all over the legal allowance and still enjoy his sport.

The ideal might be to establish hatcheries on every major
stream and have every creel checked as the fisherman comes off
the stream, then replace as many trout as were killed. This,
of course, would be an expensive and impossible arrangement
to maintain. However, some approach in this direction, as has
already been done In a few of the states, would do no harm.

As long as our fish and game commissions keep raising trout
and placing them In the streams, there will always be some
fishing. It may not get any better; it may not get any worse;
It may reach the point, at least on the streams accessible by
automobile, where we are catching only fish that have been
recently planted. The urge to go fishing will always be an
atavistic urge and one which no true angler can suppress nor
will he wish to suppress it. Even If his catch keeps diminishing
as the years go by, he will still try his luck and bring home
from his fishing trips the memories of pleasant days spent
among beautiful surroundings.

c_x rout, <^Dig or &/* tttte

7

Qj treo-mSs <?+-^a,rqe or QJ mail

MANY of my fishermen friends are always on the prowl for
large trout. They will spend hours working over a spot where
they know a large fish lurks or feeds. This is all right, and
more power to them in their endeavors. I did, at one period,
concentrate on a few big fish, but as time went on j I changed
my tactics. True, if I raise and hook a big trout, I get an ex-
citing battle and the thrill that goes with it. After fishing the
large streams, however, and taking my share of the big fish,
I have come to realize that as much pleasure and probably
more can be derived from the smaller creeks and brooks where
I am reasonably sure that my top fish will not go over 13 or
14 inches.

As we grow older we become reminiscent of the pleasures
we had in the earlier years of our lives. So it must be with me.
As a boy in the Adirondacks and Catskills of New York, I
fished the summers away on the smaller brooks and streams. I
remember vividly the thrill I had of packing back into the
north woods of New York State. For forty miles south of the
place on one of the Adirondack lakes where I spent my sum-
mers, there was no civilization,, there were no clearings or
openings in the timber, and very few, if any, trails. How well I
remember the wildness of this country, its Inaccessibility ex-
cept by back-packing in your supplies.

127

128

Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Weight curve of rormoS trout

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1 1 n

i
t

/

IAA

A

'

|

/

r

ftO

/

OU
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o

jr

f

o

Jr

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t

X

^0

,

x

s

ZA

X

^x

!

r

in

,-^"

o

'

!

-4 '

3 1

-2

Length in Inches

It was here that I first did my fishing on the smaller streams,
which, In those days, literally abounded with native trout
(Salvelinus fontinalis). Rarely, on these streams, did I engage

a fish over 14 inches, and the average would be around 10 to
1 1 Inches, with some as small as 8 inches. Probably this Is the
reason why the small stream has had more appeal for me than
the larger rivers. There Is an undefinable charm to these little
brooks they present many problems. One becomes aware of
the most probable He of the fish the shaded pools, the small
riffles, the overhanging growth giving the necessary cover to a
fair-sized trout.

I remember well a small stream, the upper portion of which
could be fished as open water that Is to say, It was not privately
owned. The lower portion, however, flowed through several
estates owned by some of the wealthiest families In the United
States. This portion of the stream was patrolled regularly by
"creek watchers."* The patrolman had a regular beat and a
regular time of arriving at certain parts of the stream. It was
not difficult for a young man or a boy to secrete himself within
view of the stream, watch for the patrolman, and learn that he

Trout, Big or Little Streams, Large or Small 129

would not return for another two or three hours. One can do
a lot of fishing in this time, and although at my present age I
would hesitate to poach on any closed water, yet, what youth
has not in his time helped thin out a watermelon patch or
taken a few extra apples which, after all, might only xot on the
ground? The fishing under these conditions offered an excite-
ment not afforded by strictly orthodox methods. Stolen fruit
is sweet, and the thrill of not knowing whether or not you
may be apprehended lends zest to the sport. Far be it from me
to advocate the practice of poaching on closed waters, but the
sheer beauty of this stream and the utter wildness of its sur-
roundings still linger in my memory, and the few times that I
trespassed on these waters probably did no harm to the trout
population.

One acquires a knack in fishing these small brooks. As a
rule they are heavily covered with brush, and the banks cany
a growth of trees and cover that often hangs down over the
water. Some are absolutely unfishable with a fly, they are so
thickly overgrown. Yet one grows to be extremely proficient
in casting under difficult conditions; roll casting becomes an
art. And now and then there are places where one finds an
opening that permits casting in the regular manner. As a rule,
these small streams offer excellent sport. They try one's pa-
tience, and patience certainly is a virtue of more importance
on a trout stream than anywhere else.

On these very small streams I use a short rod of 61/9 feet
and weighing 214 ounces, a 4x leader and IFI line. It is sur-
prising how much fun a fly fisherman may have with this light
tackle. In fact, a 1 2-inch trout, under these conditions, is
comparable to an 18- or so-inch one on a g^-ounce or Bounce
rod on a large stream. It is all relative. If we were to take a
heavy salmon rod and try for an 1 8- or 2O-inch trout, we would
probably find that the thrill in catching a fish of this size would
be diminished in proportion. I have done some steelhead fish-
ing with a 6-ounce rod, catching fish weighing 12 pounds, and
have had my fun with them. On the other hand, I have also
hooked with this outfit into steelhead that weighed from 2 to

130 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

4 pounds and considered them small fish. But If I had been
equipped with a 3 Bounce TO ^ an( ^ t ^ ie fi tt: * n g terminal tackle
on these smaller steelhead, my fun would have been increased
proportionally. So after all, it boils down to a matter of rela-
tive values.

Now and then one is greatly surprised on these small streams
by the number and size of fish they may contain.

A year or two ago I was near one of the large resorts of the
United States. When the main river was dirty or when I wished
a change in location or surroundings, I fished a small stream
that, in its lower reaches, ran through this resort property. It
was open water from one end to the other. A few miles above
the resort was a series of beaver ponds that were popular with
the local fishermen. Above these ponds the stream averaged
only 10 feet or so across. There were a few pools that might be
6 feet deep at their deepest part. It was a stream relatively easy
to fish; meadows bordered it along most of its length above
the ponds. The fishing was fair, the fish on the whole being of
"pan-fry" size, that is to say, around 10 Inches, as a rule.

There was one pool which, at the upper end, had a dead
willow growing close to the bank; the dead limbs entering the
water were a mass of tangles and afforded what might be good
cover for a fair-sized trout. I had fished this pool possibly four
or five times before, but on this day the trout had been rising
eagerly to the fly, taking hold viciously whenever they hit.
After several casts on the lower end of the pool, I decided to
drop the fly close to the trailing branches of the dead willow.
Two or three casts brought no results, but on the fourth, the
fly disappeared with little disturbance. I set the hook, and the
whole bottom of the little creek literally blew up. A giant
rainbow giant for this little creek broke water in a shower
of spray.

The fight lasted several minutes until the fish, as all large
trout usually do, headed under the willows. Presence of mind
indicated that the only procedure was to get below the ob-
stacle, ease off pressure on the line, and wait for the big fisli
to come out the same way he went under the cover. This was

Trout., Big or Little Streams, Large or Small 131

not entirely successful, but with a slight tension kept on the
upstream trout, I did eventually get him to emerge into the
open. By some good fortune the leader and line had not be-
come entangled in the underwater brush, From here on to the
finish of the fight, the trout, with some little persuasion, was
kept out in the open water until he finally came to net. He
measured an even 20 inches. He had probably worked up from
the river to spawn during the high water of the spring months
and had held over in the pool until August, when he was
hooked. It all goes to show that one never knows when or
where he may hook into a big trout or when even a small brook
may yield a big fish.

Another instance of a big fish in a small stream took place
in the High Sierra of California. It was a meadow stream with
undercut banks. The pools were not deep, but there was plenty
of cover. This stream has never given up many large fish, a
fair average being about 10 inches and top fish running to 15
inches.

The day was still, the temperature high, the sun extremely
bright, as it can be only in the higher altitudes. The time was
noon, when, if ever, all the odds are against the fisherman.
All morning the fishing had been poor one of those days
when the trout just will not cooperate with the fisherman. I
was walking slowly along the bank, now and then casting a
fly out on the water and not paying too much attention to it.
I sometimes do this to keep the fly in motion in order to be
certain it is thoroughly dry.

I dropped the fly out onto the surface of the quietest pool,
the most unlikely spot on the whole stream to raise a trout
under such unfavorable conditions. There was a big surge. I
set the hook, and the fun started. With a light rod and termi-
nal tackle it took minutes to subdue this antagonist. The
large trout finally sought refuge under the undercut bank,
entirely exhausted, with no desire to continue the fight out in
the open.

A fisherman companion w r ho had been watching the battle
remarked that the fish was exhausted and merely resting. He

152 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

quietly waded Into the water, reached his arm and hand up
under the bank, and found the pocket in which the fish had
taken refuge. 1 remember his report, to the word: "He is in a
hole under the bank I feel his tail. Shall I take the chance
and run my hand up along his side and try to slip my fingers
into his gills?" '*Go ahead/ 9 1 said, "it is the only thing we can
do." The solution proved to be effective, and we soon had a
5^4-pound brown trout out on the bank. Here, again, on a
small stream and with all conditions against the fisherman, was
landed a trout which would be a good fish in a very large
stream. One never knows when a golden opportunity may
come along, and if the fisherman is at the right place at the
right time, the results may prove spectacular.

I have dry-fly-fished for many years, over many streams and
locations. It has been my good fortune to have taken my share
of trout. If I had not, I probably would have given up years
ago. Many times my friends have asked me to what I attribute
my success. Assuming that one has mastered at least the rudi-
ments of dry-fly casting and its various ramifications, which are,
of course, the necessary elements, then what single factor does
contribute to success in this sport? In answer I would say that
it is perseverance everlastingly keeping at it, even when no
fish have been taken for hours.

It is a peculiar thing, after one has become a dry-fly fisher-
man in the full sense of the word, that when he is on the stream,
he is entirely oblivious of everything except the problem in
hand. Sometimes he will be parched with thirst, and all he
needs to do is to stand his rod up against a tree, lie down, and
drink out of the stream. But he is so intent on the next cast that
he will not give up even a few minutes to quench his thirst. In
his jacket pocket he may be carrying sandwiches which should
have been eaten at noon but will not be taken out until hours
thereafter or until he is actually faint for food, so intent has the
angler been on his fishing.

One more example of perseverance and determination took
place in the summer of 1949. My fishing companion, Frank,
and I were fishing the Big Wood River near Sun Valley, Idaho.

Trout, Big or Little Streams^ Large or Small 133

With the exception of the war years, I have fished this stream
for some twelve years. There was a time when the state of
Idaho prohibited the use of salmon eggs in the district through
which this river flows; during the war, however, or shortly
thereafter, the rules were changed, so that salmon eggs have
been legal bait for the past few years. In consequence, the
quality of the fishing has rapidly deteriorated until now it
is at low ebb.

During the past few years both Frank and I had seen the fish-
ing suffer, with the result that we had been having poorer sport
each season. On this particular day Frank had been fishing all
afternoon until, after three or four hours of not raising a single
fish, he had become completely disgusted. I had been trailing
him, and occasionally, where the river widened to a point that
permitted us to fish opposite each other, I had taken my place
across from him. We would then both fish to the middle of the
stream, by this means covering its entire width.

All at once he called across to me, "One might as well fish the
gravel shore for all the trout there are left in this river after
those blankety-blank salmon eggers have been through here."
Now my friend is one of the most ardent dry-fly purists I know.
He is a man of determined patience, the type who never gives
up as long as there is a ray of hope, but on this afternoon I
could see that he was fast becoming disheartened. When either
of us gets this way, the other immediately tries to cheer him up
by some facetious remark. I answered by calling back, "Well,
where are those salmon eggs I saw you sneak into your jacket
pocket when we left your house?" As I had expected, he blew
his top, and the remarks about all bait fishermen were some-
thing to hear. In order to quiet him down, I added, "Why don't
you try behind that big log on your side it looks fishy to me."

He dropped his ly on the spot. Nothing happened. "You
see," he said, "there are just no fish left in the river." But all
the time he kept on casting. The iy dropped above the sunken
log and Frank let out a yell as he connected with an 1 8-inch
fish. These rainbow have a habit of heading down-river after
their preliminary skirmish, and this one was no exception.

134 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Frank turned tail and started downstream, where he finished
the fight in the next pool below.

Now maybe I have a distorted sense of humor, but I sat down
on the bank and started to laugh, keeping it up while the fight
lasted. It may have been a mental reaction to an afternoon o
the poorest fishing of the season; it may have been that my
friend cut a ridiculous figure stumbling over the rocks, stumps,
and logs in his course down-river. Whatever it was, it released
the tension under which we had been working for hours, with
the result that from then on until evening we managed to take
three or four good trout apiece.

We now knew that there were still a few fish left in the river
for him who kept trying. Strange how a few fish will change
our whole mental outlook. Here again was an example of per-
severance paying rewards.

Let us examine the practice of salmon-egg fishing and its
effect on the sport. I see no particular harm in it if a bait fisher-
man wishes to use a single egg on a hook, except that I do be-
lieve this to be the most deadly bait in existence for rainbow.
However, I am positive in my opinion that the practice of
"chumming" or "feeding" a pool with a handful of salmon
eggs and then baiting a hook with an egg can do more to de-
plete the trout population than any other legal means, I have
seen many fishermen resort to this practice, and when they
were cleaning their catch, I Have seen as many as a dozen eggs
in a fish's stomach. There could be no more deadly way than
this of emptying a stream of trout in the same interval of time,
unless it be a resort to the legal use of dynamite. Some of the
Western states prohibit the use or sale of salmon eggs, notably
the states of Montana and Wyoming, where I have fished for
many years. In fishing the streams of these states, it has been my
observation that the quality of the fishing far exceeds that of
the states where the use of salmon eggs is legal.

California has prohibited the chumming with eggs but still
permits their use as a single egg bait on a hook.* Even so there

* Since the writing of this, chumming with salmon eggs is now legal again in

California.

Typical location at head of Island for a brown trout. Photograph b\ Jack Bissci

False casting. The back cast is started before the fly can touch the water. The fly is dried and the
distance measured. Sun ratify AVa>s Burtau "

The Four Phases of Casting. Phase No. i The rod Is moved from the ten o'clock to the twelve

o'clock position. Mentally aim for the sky directly overhead.

Phase No. 2 Rod being checked at the farthermost rear position. (Caster has extended rod too

far to rear.)

Phase Xo. 3 Power being applied for the forward cast. Line about straightened out behind the
caster.

Phase No. 4 Rod has been checked at farthermost forward position. Line is starting to follow-
through and fly will drop on water.

Tf nstcciM* r,,

.-* ! ,;;^ : , / . ^

The Madison Rher below Hebgen Lake typical pocket water. Photograph by Jack Bisset

Fishing in the Esopus Creek at Phoenicia, one of the most popular of the Catskill trout streams.
XYSPIX.-COMMERCE

Playing and netting a Silver Creek, Idaho, rainbow. Sun Valley Photograph

The Big Wood River of Idaho below Magic Reservoir. With a heavy leader aod large fly the

author forced a g^> pound rainbow out into the open on his second try. Sun Valley Photograph

The Big Trout.

The Owens River, California. Note slung position of net. Joe Mears Photograph

A small Caiskiil stream typical pocket water, DeVall hollow stream opposite McKenzies at
Willow.

Trout, Big or Little Streams, Large or Small 135

are flagrant violations of this chumming law all sorts of il-
legal subterfuges are used to circumvent the law, and all with
the same deadly results. It is my honest opinion that the use of
this form of bait should be prohibited on all trout waters for
the preservation of our fishing for the future.

I do not wish to be misunderstood. I am speaking about sal-
mon eggs only and not about other types of bait. As stated be-
fore in this book, I hold no brief against the bait fisherman. He
is entitled to his sport just as much as the fly fisherman. If he
wishes to dig himself a can of worms or catch a f ew grasshoppers
in order to take a few trout, well and good, but when he resorts
to the unsportsmanlike practice of chumming his trout, I can-
not see where he is playing the game according to the rules of
the sport. In the years that I have fished, I have seen too many
streams ruined by the use of salmon eggs not to feel positive in
my opinion.

The incidents that have been cited merely illustrate what
perseverance may do and what forms it takes in actual practice.
Everlastingly keeping at it, day in and day out, during one's
vacation not only results in perfecting techniques but in filling
the creel, if one is inclined to keep his fish. Regardless of
whether it is a stream tributary to the ocean where steelhead
may be taken or an inland river for trout, the same persever-
ance holds.

Here are some further instances:

I was fishing the Klamath for steelhead had been at it all
day with not a strike of any kind. The next morning, early, I
was on the stream again. I had lots of company on that particu-
lar riffle. After two hours, with no one getting even a strike,
the crowd started to dwindle away, until in another hour's
time no one but myself was left.

The last man had just disappeared over the brow of a nearby
hill when I thought I had a faint strike. Was this a small piece
of driftwood or weed that had touched the fly? I wondered.
Anyway, I kept on casting, and upon the third cast there was
a terrific yank, and the fish was on. No need here to describe
the battle, for anyone who has hooked steelhead does not need

136 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

to be told, and those of my readers who have not do not know
what they have missed. For the next two hours or so I had as
fast and furious action as I have ever experienced In this type
of fishing. It was so good that I could not spare the time to go
back to the camp to tell the others. However, that afternoon
everyone In camp was on the riffle, and fish were taken fre-
quently. It was being there at the right time that did it.

Another Incident occurred on the Gallatin In Montana. I
was fishing with a friend who had only started to fish dry fly
In fact, the same man who took his first trout on a dry and
who Is mentioned in Chapter 1 1 . We had fished for several
hours with little success. My companion Is a man who craves
action In his fishing who does not? but unfortunately we
cannot order our fishing when we want It. He decided to give
up for that day. It was suggested that he keep at it, but he Is a
man whose nature Is not set In the perseverance mold. He
went to the car and Into camp. About an hour later the fish
really started to hit, and In the next two hours I had the best
fishing of the entire three weeks' stay.

Now, this does not happen every time. These instances are
merely cited to show that it can happen. Many are the days,
many are the hours that I have kept at my casting with the hope
that soon the fish would start to move, only to be disappointed.

What causes the periods when the fish suddenly start hit-
ting? We wish we knew. We do know, of course, that when a
hatch conies on, the fish will usually start to surface-feed, and
we know that at these periods it Is up to us. But those times
when we have seen no fish moving, when we have fished for
hours with mediocre results, when no hatch starts but the
trout begin to rise to a dry fly as though they never had had
food, when all at once It happens, then we ask ourselves, why?
Is It a condition of the air? Is It a change in barometer? Is it
water temperature; is It some Influence we know nothing
about; Is it the so-called "sol-lunar" period? What is it? One
cannot check It with any particular frequency. It just hap-
pens, and then Is the time we should be on the stream.

We know that it is not just that portion of the stream one is

Trout, Big or Little Streams,, Large or Small 157

fishing. At many times and places my fishing companions, who
may be several miles away from me, will, when they return
to camp, compare notes. Invariably they -will check with me
as to the fishing, check the hours or intervals when the fish
refused to rise and check to within a few minutes when the ac-
tivity started and when it ended. These are things we do not
know the reason for; we can only say that, like the boy scout,
one should "be prepared/' It is a great game, and the more we
keep at it, the more we learn how little we really do know.

Again, if advice is to be given, it would be to keep ever-
lastingly at it don't quit. Take a rest on the bank of the
stream, turn your attention to the wealth of nature's beauties
that are always to be found along any stream. Relax, take a
short "snooze" if you wish, eat your forgotten lunch, watch
the currents of the stream, study the water to learn where the
trout may be hiding, and watch for the first indications of a
hatch. After a half hour or so, try again; don't give up the hope
that sometime that day you will be there at the right time.
After all, you did take this vacation to go fishing, didn't you?
So, make it unforgettable you can loaf when you go back
home. I could never quite understand why some of my friends
who profess to be good fishermen will give up an afternoon's
fishing and retire to their cabin or camp to play a game of cards.
After traveling some 300 or 400 miles to a trout stream, why
not get out and work it? They could have a friendly card game
at home and save the trouble of a long drive.

Qjo/ne *^j/*a.c/07~ of Q}u

THE MAN who spends many of his years outdoors usually de-
velops his senses of seeing and hearing to a degree that is not
enjoyed by his indoor brother. When he walks through a thick
woods, he is aware of sounds that may mean nothing to the
indoor type of individual.

Such acuteness is particularly characteristic of the fly fisher-
man. He often sees out of the corner of his eye, so to speak,
some very slight disturbance on the water. He may hear the
faint * s plop" of a rising fish and note the direction from which
the sound came, so that he may catch the telltale ring caused
by the rising fish before the tiny ripple is dissipated. He may
even hear the suction as the fish takes in a natural insect. His
memory is sharpened. Every one of us who has fished a stream
a few times knows exactly when he is coining to the spot where
perhaps the year before he had his best success, where he may
have raised or taken a big fish. Each bend of the stream brings
past performances back to him. He is eager to reach a certain
riffle or to cast by a well-remembered boulder.

There is a stream in southern California, not far from my
home, that yielded some excellent fishing before the big flood
of eleven years ago. In September and October the water is
low, although there is, in normal seasons, a flow sufficient to
maintain good riffles and pools. I have fished this stream prob-
ably more than any other.

Always toward evening the trout would begin to move.
138

Some Factors of Success igg

Along the edge of the swifter portions they had the habit of
taking surface food so quietly that their rise could be detected
only by the very closest attention. I have enjoyed some excel-
lent sport here during the hour before dark. I finally developed
the habit, if I thought I noticed any disturbance, of dropping
my fly above it. Practically every time, a trout would rise and
take the fly always a good fish. Some of my friends who
fished this stream with me would go evening after evening
without any luck. Only by leaving my tackle in the car, keep-
ing close to my fishermen friends, and pointing out to them
the spot w r here a fish had risen, could I make it possible for
them to get any trout. After repeated trials they finally trained
themselves to see the rises.

On some of the meadow streams with undercut banks, a
fish will rise close to the bank with little disturbance. The
only telltale sign may be a small bubble that floats away. On
the Owens River of California for a few miles above Crowley
Lake, by close watching one can detect where a fish may be
lying and cast over him. There may be the very slightest suck-
ing noise as the fish takes the natural which gives away his
position to the fisherman. Maybe a bubble will form and float
downstream a little way before breaking.

There are times when the fisherman cannot be positive as
to whether or not a trout is surface-feeding or taking nymphs
just below the surface before they emerge from the water.
Often one will present his fly, which he believes to be as near
the pattern of the natural, both in size and form, as possible,
and find that the fish are not interested. This may happen in
the very height of a good hatch, when the fish are feeding with-
out pause. As long as they keep on feeding, it is always safe
to assume that one has done nothing to put them down yet
they will not take the fly.

I have undergone this experience on many occasions, par-
ticularly on meandering, slow-flowing, weed-filled streams of
the High Sierra. I have stood in one place at the foot of a run
and seen as many as a dozen or more good fish rising with
clocklike regularity, taking what was apparently surface food,

i^o Diy-Fly Trout Fishing

yet with equal regularity they would refuse my flies. As they
fed on the natural on or near the surface, their tails would be
visible for an Instant as they turned downward. Perhaps they
are feeding on nymphs when this happens, but trying to
present a nymph to them brings no results.

In one Instance, with a small pair of scissors I cut down the
hackles of the fly until It was somewhat of a cross between a
dry fly and a nymph. There had been a good fish behaving in
the manner just described. His position was fairly close to the
opposite bank, but after repeated trials he simply would not
look at the stereotyped dry fly. I dropped this trlmmed-down
affair a few feet above his position. The fly could not be said
to float, nor could It be described as sinking. Anyway, a very
small portion of it just broke the water surface. As the fly
came over the fish, he took It with a relish a 1 6-Inch brown
was my reward. At the upper end of the run, where the swifter
water from above broke Into the pool, there were several other
fish behaving in the same way, and I experienced no difficulty
In Interesting these fish with the same creation.

I have tried this procedure on several other occasions when
the fish were acting In like manner; although in some in-
stances It worked, In others It was In no way effective. Anyway,
a trial which may be unorthodox sometimes brings results.
The question still remains in my mind as to whether the trout
were feeding on the surface or on the nymphs,

In my many years of fly-fishing I have encountered every
variety of fisherman. Some are slow and deliberate, others fast
and more active, and then there Is the type that sets a pace
somewhere between the two. On the waters east of the Missis-
sippi you are apt to find the dry-fly angler covering every por-
tion o the stream but taking his time to cast a run over and
over. He hopes that by constant casting he may "create a
hatch/* making the fish believe, by these repeated floats over
his lie, that an actual natural hatch is taking place. The East-
ern angler Is more prone to be content with thoroughly cover-
ing a few good runs than to try to see how much water he can
work in the time he has allotted to fish.

Some Factors of Success 1^1

On the other hand, I have observed that most of the fly
fishermen on the Western streams, and particularly In the
Rockies, are of the type that feel their best success will depend
on covering the greatest amount of water possible, thereby
presenting their flies to the maximum number of fish. True,
most of the native anglers of the West are wet-fly men, and
their method of hurrying downstream may fill their creels
anyway, they have been following this method over a long
enough period of time and do show results. The few Western
fishermen who do face upstream with the dry fly seem to have
carried over from their wet-fly days the desire to pick out what
they consider the "hot spots" and often pass up water that may
contain good fish. In my opinion, it pays to make haste slowly
on dry-fly water.

I have many fishermen friends whom I have taught the
use of the dry fly. One, in particular, who takes his share of
the fish is always in a hurry. He is an extremely athletic indi-
vidual, and when he charges upstream nothing stops him. He
will make a cast or two on a likely-looking spot, but if the fish
do not respond immediately, he has no use for their indiffer-
ence and plows on upstream in search of more accommodating
trout. On the other hand, another companion is the exact
opposite. He will cover only about a quarter of the distance
and water that the other man will. In a comparison of their
catches these two fishermen come out about equal. It must
be admitted, though, that the man who hurries his fishing
probably expends at least two or three times the energy of the
other.

I cannot help believing that the person who takes his time
not only catches as many fish as the man in a hurry, but also
has a much more enjoyable day doing it. He has the oppor-
tunity to study stream conditions, observe the scenery, give
undivided attention to all those problems that confront the
fisherman, and come in at the end of the day much less worn
out than the other type of fisherman. After pushing into the
swift currents of a mountain stream, one can become "leg
weary" to the point where his muscles almost refuse to func-

142 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

tion properly. Even if you take your time in working up a
river of any size, you will wonder during the first few days,
particularly if you have come out of an office, what has hap-
pened to your legs. It takes about a week of fishing before they
accustom themselves to this unfamiliar exercise. The slower
person is quite often a more delicate and finished caster than
the type who hurries upstream in his endeavor to cover more
water. He is by nature more careful, more meticulous in his
casting than his "slap-bang" friend.

It is a very peculiar thing that, particularly on the Western
streams, one encounters very few expert dry-fly casters. How
can one account for why this condition exists? On the hard-
fished Eastern streams, practically every fisherman one comes
across is an accomplished dry-fly man. Probably he has to be
if he wishes to attain even mediocre success. The waters take
a terrific punishment. The centers of population are more or
less adjacent to the streams, and the trout are shy and wary.
In the West, many of our creeks, rivers, and brooks are at a
distance from the large cities; there is much more water; the
planting programs are adequate; the fish less shy; and for a man
to attain results, he does not have to perfect his technique to
equal that of his Eastern friend.

Many so-called fly casters on our Western waters have much
to learn. So often they seem to lack "trout sense." They pass
up likely runs, their casting is poor, and they seem to have no
idea of drag. When you do encounter a dry-fly man, his tackle
is often not suitable, and his results, even on the relatively less
fished waters, show his lack of trout lore. In all fairness, how-
ever, I admit that each season I meet more and more dry-fly
men, many of whom are in the expert class; undoubtedly it
will not be many years before this method becomes as popular
in the West as in the East.

It must also be admitted that the far greater age, geologi-
cally, of our Eastern mountains, their more gentle slopes, and
the flatter gradient of their streams give a slower type of water,
with consequently more glides and "slicks," than that of the
newer, higher, and more rugged terrain of our Western moun-

Some Factors of Success 1^9

tains. Consequently, the waters of the "West are, on the whole.
not likely to contain as much dry-fly water, relatively, as the
East. And yet there are many more streams and larger rivers,
plenty of them flowing through high-plateau meadowlands
which give as good dry-fly water as can be found in America.
The Deschutes of Oregon, Silver Creek of Idaho, the Owens
River and Hot Creek of California, and the Firehole of
Yellowstone are only a few that in time will become as famous
as the Neversink, the Esopus, the Beaverkill, the Willowemoc
of the Catskills, the Broadhead of the Alleghenies, and the
Ausable of the Adirondacks. Already these Western rivers see
a fair share of dry-fly men, and each year their numbers are
increasing.

I have often been asked, "When is the best time to fish?"
The answer to that, to my mind, is any time you can get to a
stream in the open season. There is always a chance, except
that in high, dirty water the dry fly is practically useless, and
there is no point in trying your luck under conditions that
are impossible. In the spring of 1949, two of us were in the
High Sierra for a few days. We arrived in the middle of an
unseasonable probably the word "unusual" would be more
appropriate for California hot spell; it was July and August
weather occurring early in June. The meadow stream we had
planned to fish was out over its banks, the water dirty and
flowing at a speed twice its normal rate, due to the rapidly
melting snow of the altitudes above the io,ooo~foot level. We
had driven over 300 miles and were planning to spend three
or four days. It seemed possible that a few fish might be in the
shallower water along the edges, but after fishing some four
hours with not a sign of a trout, we were about ready to give
up and try a dry fly on one or another of the lakes.

Off in the distance, near the edge of the creek, I thought I
saw the telltale ring of a rising fish then another. I looked
down at the stream near my side of the bank and was greatly
surprised to see the water relatively clearer than it had been.
Walking nearer the point where I had seen what appeared to
be a rising trout, I noticed that a small spring run of dear

144 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

water was entering the main stream there and that for several
hundred feet below the confluence the flow remained quite
clear. There must have been at least a dozen fish rising in this
clearer water. I called to my companion, and we decided to
take turns, alternating our catches if we had luck. With care
not to disturb the water once we hooked a fish, we were able
to account for four fish apiece. The next morning we repeated
this performance. From the three days spent on this stream,
under the most adverse conditions imaginable, we were able
to take home a fair catch of trout. Each morning the fish would
be there waiting for us. They probably were attracted to the
spot by the clearness of the water and by the fact that here they
could escape the effort of fighting the swift current of the flood-
swollen stream.

There is a serene, soul-satisfying beauty that surrounds the
Catskill streams of New York State. The green valleys with
their fertile farms, the wooded slopes of the hills, lend a charm
that is indefinable. On the south slope of these mountains
flow many famous streams. The Beaverkill, the Neversink, the
Willowemoc, and the Rondout are renowned in stream lore.
When you fish the Neversink, you come to it in reverence,
knowing full well that such famous fishermen as Gordon,
LaBranche, Hewitt, Whipple, Steenrod, Cross, and Christian
are but a few who have cast their dry flies before you.

On this beautiful stream was floated the first dry fly ever
to alight on an American water. In 1890, Theodore Gordon
received the first ones from Halford in England. It was in-
deed a momentous occasion when he opened the envelope in
which the flies had reached him and cast one of these creations
on his beloved Neversink. From this day forward the course
of American fly fishing was altered. Not long thereafter the
method found favor, at least on the Eastern waters. We of
the trout-fishing fraternity owe so much to these men who
introduced this technique in America. Their painstaking re-
searches into the method paved the way for us who follow in
the path of their booted feet

Some Factors of Success 145

To the north and over the crest of the mountains is the well-
known Esopus. Probably this stream has had more fishermen
whip its surface than any other within a radius of 100 miles
of New York City. My fishing companion for many years on
the Esopus was my brother-in-law, Schuyler. This was our
favorite stream. I recall with nostalgic longing the days we
spent along its course. There in the warm summer evenings,
in the peace and quiet of that lovely valley, we fished away
the magic hours.

There is an indefinable charm to this region. It Is an in-
tangible thing which one must experience to appreciate. You
know that here on this water some of the greatest fly casters
of all time have placed their dry flies. The trout are wary and
wise, and quite often even the most expert cannot interest
them.

During the day we usually met with mediocre or poor suc-
cess on the Esopus. The hour or two before dark, when the sun
had dropped behind the hills, was the time we experienced
more activity. Sometimes we found the long glides would
produce the best sport. We would watch for the rising fish as
do our English cousins on their chalk streams. Often a fly
placed 3 or 4 feet above the dimple, caused by a feeding trout
taking a natural, and floated over the spot would cause a rise.
We discovered that there were times when the only way we
could take a fish was by this method rather than by the usual
American way of casting over all the likely looking places.
One must be accurate and delicate in his casting on these
smoother waters if he hopes to meet with success.

I remember an instance on the Esopus wiien my brother-
in-law, Schuyler, took a 1 6-inch trout. It Is typical of procedure
that may contribute to success in similar circumstances. I had
been trailing him and had been more content to enjoy the
beauty of the evening than to participate in the fishing. As
we stood at the tail end of a long, relatively quiet glide, he
turned to me and said, "Did you notice that rise over there
on the far side?**

146 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

I had been looking up the glide and had not noticed it.

"I think 111 get in position and see if I can bring him up to
my fly," he continued.

As he entered the still water of the lower end and waded
slowly upstream into casting position, several surface waves
were formed that continued across stream and over the feeding
trout. Immediately the fish stopped rising.

"You sure put him down that time/' I said.

"Keep your shirt on/* Schuyler replied. "I knew I would/*

"Well, let's move on/* I returned. "There is no use waiting
here now that you have scared all the trout in the run/'

"Look/' he said. "Don't be in such a hurry I propose to
stand here until he starts to feed again if I have to spend the
whole night doing it-"

I began to realize that the only way he could take this fish
was by doing exactly what he had done. He just had to wade
into the water to get into proper position to execute his cast.
Maybe the fish would start to feed again if Schuyler had the
patience to stand stock-still long enough. I thought, here is
a chance to see how long it would take, so glanced at my watch.
It was fifteen minutes later when he said,

"He just rose to a natural, but I am going to wait until he
has taken three before I try for him."

There was a fair hatch on at the time, and soon my com-
panion said, "There he goes again; it won't be long now."

He began to measure his cast, getting ready to present the
fly. It was only an instant later that the fish took the third
natural. Waiting for the fish to resume its feeding position,
he lightly dropped his fly some 4 or 5 feet above the spot where
the trout had been taking the surface food. As his fly floated
over the spot, there was a slight disturbance, and his offering
disappeared from view. There was a good battle, and Schuyler
soon brought to net a 1 6-inch brown.

Here was a situation that required patience and no little
planning to bring success. Often we are faced, on any stream,
with problems that take ingenuity and some originality before

Some Factors of Success 147

they are finally solved. But It's the patient application of that
ingenuity and originality that brings the net results.

Although the dry fly is a stream lure, it has been used with
success on lakes also. However, its use on a lake is so limited
in comparison with stream fishing that I have not been too
successful on these quiet waters. Sometimes in the evening
along the shore, when the trout come in close to prey on a hatch,
the fly can be used to advantage. However, lake fishing with a
dry fly does not have the appeal to me that stream fishing does,
the reason being that all water on the lake looks alike. On a
stream, one can often pick out the places where the trout are
likely to be found behind a rock, along the edge of the swift
current, or in the tail ends of the pools or runs. Here the fisher-
man can use his imagination and "trout sense/' but in a lake
there is no variation.

Trout will often keep to the shallower water along the edges
of a stream that is flowing high. One of the streams I have
fished has, in its upper reaches, a powerhouse which supplies
electrical energy to the southern part of the state of California.
During the late evening and after midnight, when the in-
dustrial load makes less demand, this powerhouse often shuts
down to conserve water, storing the natural runoff for peak
loads. The best fishing water is a matter of three to five miles
below the plant. Power is demanded from eight o'clock In the
morning until late evening. Consequently, the water starts
through the wheels at a fixed time and reaches the best fishing
water two to three hours thereafter.

When the stream is low, the fishing Is excellent, but once
the water starts to rise, the trout will lie dormant for an hour
or two, apparently adjusting themselves to the changed condi-
tions or possibly working on the feed that has been washed
into the stream by the sudden rise of the water. After an hour
or two, they can be interested by a dry fly, but they will be
found along the shallow edges and in the quieter water out of
the main current.

This same stream offers some of the best dry-fly fishing on

148 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Saturdays and Sundays, when the Industrial demand for power
is at a minimum and the water stage is normal. It Is decidedly
a week-end stream. Quite often, when conditions appear to be
decidedly on the impossible side, one may be fortunate enough
to work out his own solution, as in the case of the two experi-
ences related above.

All our discussion so far has been about the accepted method
of fishing the dry fly, viz., the fisherman faces upstream and
casts his fly somewhere up ahead of his position. Once in a while
some unorthodox method may bring results where the con-
ventional one is Impossible to use.

It has been many years since I have fished the Broadhead of
Pennsylvania, yet I well remember an Instance where my
friend, George, took a good trout under difficult conditions.
The fishing had been fairly good. Several hatches had taken
place during the day, and the fish had cooperated splendidly.

A good hatch was on the surface. As we came to a deep,
smooth piece of water, we saw a tree hanging out over the
stream, the lowest branch of which just touched the surface.
Close to this branch on the upstream side we both noticed a
fish rise. We waited a moment, and again he came to the sur-
face to take a natural. It was Impossible to stand downstream
or even across the stream and drop a fly In the right spot. The
limb of the tree and the trailing foliage precluded any such
approach. Finally George turned to me and said, "I think
maybe I can take that fish."

"How do you think you're going to make a cast with all that
junk In the way" 1 I asked.

"Stand right where you are/' he replied, "and 111 show you
a trick or two."

He deliberately turned his back to the stream and walked
away from the shore until he was outside of the range of vision
of any fish. He then started upstream, making a wide detour,
coining back to the edge of the water about 75 feet above the
rising trout. I was In a position where I could not only watch
the feeding fish, but George's solution of the problem.

"Watch this now/' he called to me. "I only hope I can do it."

Some Factors of Success i^g

It then dawned on me that he was going to attempt a down-
stream cast. I knew he would have but one chance at the fish

because if he missed, the rip of his line and leader as It left the
water for a second try would put the fish down for keeps.

"Here she goes/' he said. "Keep your eye on the fly." George
made his cast It was as beautiful a slack-line cast as I have ever
seen. The fly dropped at least 10 feet above the trout's posi-
tion, and as it started to float down into the feeding zone, I
could see the slack colls of his line straightening out. The fly
floated over the spot where a moment before I had seen the
fish rise.

"It's now or never," I yelled. The words had hardly been
spoken when I saw the fly go under in a heavy swirl the fish
had taken! He was fast to a big one. Try as the trout could,
George was master of the situation and kept the fish away
from the entangling branches. As the trout broke water and I
saw the flash of the sun on its side, I knew it was a prize. When
it was finally subdued, I had the pleasure of slipping my net
under it a 2O-Inch brown.

There have been a few times since that I have tried this
method when some obstacle prevented my casting in the con-
ventional manner. It has not always worked, but when It has,
it has given me a feeling of satisfaction.

But to return to the time of year that is best for taking a
vacation and going out with a dry fly, it would seem that it
may depend on the location of the stream you propose to fish.
As has been mentioned before, the Eastern streams those of
New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michi-
gan, and the others under normal conditions are at their best
from the middle of May on through the month of June* after
which time the water drops and the activity of the fish is de-
cidedly retarded. The hatches have diminished, the water is
warmer, and we come into the period of low, clear stream
conditions.

As we go West and fish the Rocky Mountain streams and
the Pacific coastal ranges at altitudes of 6,000 feet and over,
the picture Is quite different. The heavy runoff from the melt-

150 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

ing snows takes place during June and often carries over until

about the Fourth of July. From this time on until the close of
the season, often to the end of October, the dry fly conies into
its own. The water on the whole is colder than in the Eastern
streams, the fish are active, and the sport continues to be good.
At the altitudes of over 6,000 feet, the interval of time from
mid-September to the end of October is, in my opinion, the
most delightful time of year. Then, along many of the streams,
the aspens are a blaze of glory. When the nights freeze the
water along the stream's edge, when the daytime temperature
may reach 70 degrees, when the fishing does not start until ten
o'clock in the morning, when it is over by four in the after-
noon that is the time of year to be on the stream. It is then
that the great hordes of spring fishermen have given up, the
summer vacationist has returned home, the hunter is having
his day, and when you do meet a rare fisherman on the stream,
you know he is there for the sheer love of his sport.

The trout have recovered from their summer experiences
with all types of lures and are willing to rise to the dry fly.
There will be an occasional hatch, but most of your trout will
be caught even when no hatch is on the water.

(c> J? 7

Qjtream Otfi

ics

I HESITATE to write or to advise on the subject of stream ethics
and behavior. Every angler worthy of the name learns many

of the courtesies and the considerations extended to fellow
fishermen as well as to the property owners through whose
land or along whose boundaries the stream may flow. Here,
undoubtedly, the "golden rule" applies fully as much as in
any other sport, if not more. The golden rule and all other
rules may be summed up in one word "sportsmanship/*

Our game laws, as every sportsman knows, are made for the
protection of the man who uses them. If he cheats, he cheats
himself, his fishermen friends, and all other sportsmen. If he
takes more than his limit of trout, he merely lessens the op-
portunity for further enjoyment of his fishing. He is not cheat-
ing the game warden or the fish and game commission as much
as he is cheating himself. If he fishes without a license, he is
not making any contribution to the cause which furnishes Mm
with the opportunity to do his fishing. These are all self-
evident facts, and anyone with any degree of intelligence will
appreciate their truth. Yet on occasion, self-respecting, law-
abiding citizens do forget or ignore these logical facts.

Much of my enjoyment in dry-fly fishing has been gained
not only from practicing the art itself, but from teaching and
helping younger men and boys to become proficient in it. Many
are the young men whom I have helped. I cite the following as

a typical case.

151

152 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

I had a friend who had never used a dry fly. He was taken
In hand, and in a few days mastered the fundamentals. This
friend had a son of about eighteen. The boy was interested in
learning; I worked with him constantly for two days and finally
turned him loose on the stream. Throughout his learning
period he was told from time to time that all game laws should
be observed. As time went on, the young man grew more and
more proficient at catching fish. He had been an apt pupil,
and with the passing of the years became expert. Now he in
turn is teaching his own son; so through three generations my
efforts have had their effect.

Sometimes violation of the fishing rules may be quite unin-
tentional. It may be left to the reader's judgment what should
have been done in the following instance, had the game warden
apprehended the offending party. A certain woman had gone
to a mountain home as an invited guest of friends. This place
was situated on a good trout stream, and the host was a fisher-
man of many years* experience. The season opened the next
day, and the host suggested to his guest, who had never fished
before, that she might like to try her luck with the hundreds
of fishermen who would be on hand that morning. He
equipped her with the necessary tackle for bait fishing. She
was quite successful and landed a few good fish.

When she returned from her outing, she dropped in to tell
me of her good luck and her reaction to her first trout fishing.
It was interesting to see how enthusiastic she was after one
day's experience. In the course of the conversation, I remarked,
"Now that you have given it a try, do you expect to use your
license each week end?" "What license?'' she asked. "Well,
didn't you buy one before you fished?" I commented. "No,
did I have to get a license?" she innocently asked.

Of course, ignorance of the law is no excuse in the eyes of
a judge or jury, and although the lady had absolutely no in-
tention of breaking the law, she was technically guilty. In a
case like this, what would the game warden have done had he
happened to come along to check licenses? She might have
been subject to a heavy fine, but in anyone's opinion, should

Stream Ethics 155

not the host have been the guilty party? Enough for law break-
Ing. This is a typical case, and it is not within the province of
this chapter to dwell on the subject.

True ethics on the stream resolves down to one thing the
attitude of the fisherman toward other men's rights. If you
have done much fishing, you have run across all types o fisher-
men. The first time you are with a new companion you can
tell something of his make-up when you see how he behaves
upon reaching die stream. If he hurries to get his rod strung
up and his line threaded and then rushes madly down to the
stream, leaving you to roll up the windows on his side, not
even taking the time to see if you are going to lock the car,
sometimes not even spending a moment to find out when and
where he is to meet -you, you can usually tell that here is a man
who is long on the side of selfishness. He is afraid he will not
get the best water, afraid he will not be the first to try a likely-
looking run. Fortunately, this is the type that usually catches
the least fish. The more deliberate, careful man will not only
in all probability bring in the heavier creel at the end of the
day but will get much more out of his sport.

Of course, the pest that we all despise is the fellow who sees
you starting up the bottom of a run, probably the piece of
water that you have been thinking of for days before and to
which you have decided to give your undivided attention, and
then starts at the upper end and comes barging down on you
as though the whole stream were a racecourse put there for his
own benefit. How different he is from the man who, when he
sees you coming, quietly withdraws to the bank and cuts
around you or sits down away from the stream to greet you
with the age-old password of the angler, "Any luck?" I have
discovered that most of the annoying fishermen are not con-
scious that they are violating one of the most important un-
written laws of the stream they just don't know any better.
Sometimes, if we can, we like to show up these fellows. The
opportunity does not come often, but when it does, actions
will speak louder than words. The chance came for me on an
Idaho stream just last summer.

ig^ Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

During the previous day's fishing, I had raised a large trout
in a beautiful run. Biding my time, I decided to try for this
fish the next day after the sun had dropped behind the hills
and the evening hatch might be in evidence. I approached the
run and fished about halfway up through it, casting carefully
at every likely-looking spot. Just as I reached the place and was
measuring my cast to the spot where I had raised the trout the
day before, a young man, equipped with a fine, flashy spinner,
appeared from the bank and started throwing the hardware
into the run. He was aware of my presence, but that did not
cramp his style In the least. In fact, It seemed to give him just
a little more energy In placing his casts.

It was now or never, and I quickly dropped my fly a few
feet above the spot where the trout had been raised the day
before. There was a sudden rise, and the fish was on solidly
hooked. At this point It became necessary to ask the spinner
enthusiast please to pull in his line so that only one man could
have the privilege of playing the fish. It was with something
of a feeling of sadistic joy that I finally netted a ig-Inch rain-
bow under the nose of the Intruder. Let it be mentioned that
not a word was said by either. I quietly slipped the big trout
back into the stream, much to the bewilderment of the spinner
man, reeled up my line, unjolnted my rod, and went back to
the car, willing to call It a day. Such opportunities do not often
present themselves; when they do, they give one a feeling of
well-being.

In many portions of the country, the streams are privately
owned and posted against the fisherman. This is particularly
true In the Eastern portions of the country; very rarely are
the Western streams so controlled. Quite often, where these
streams in the West are posted, permission may be obtained
to fish them by asking at the ranch house of the owner. This
gives him the opportunity to ask reasonable treatment of his
property, such as not treading down his grain or leaving his
gates open for the cattle to get out. It is merely a matter of self-
protection.

On one of my trips to the Catskills of New York I had stopped

Stream Ethics i^

off to call on an old-time friend who owned some two miles
of trout water on one of the famous streams of that region. It
was beautiful country, and the stream crystal clear so clear
as to be deceptive. It was Impossible to judge the depth of
some of the runs. I have stepped into water that I Imagined
was only a foot deep to find that I nearly went In over my boot
tops. The headwaters of these streams on the south slope of
the Catskills are often fantastically clear; In fact, I can remem-
ber no clearer water on any streams of America. They flow
through thickly forested areas, are spring-fed, and in my opin-
ion are as delightful to fish as any streams I have encountered.
My friend's water contained rainbow, brown, and a few na-
tive brook trout. I had permission to fish this posted or closed
water and had enjoyed a day's superb fishing.

A word here about this type of fishing. The owners of these
posted streams make arrangements with private hatcheries to
stock their water with aged fish each fall after the season closes.
They put In just enough trout to make the fishing Interesting.
During the winter months and the early spring before the
season opens, the trout become wild enough so that It takes
a fair degree of skill to catch them. My host had put a limit
of five fish killed and no trout to be kept under 12 Inches. No
lure but a fly was to be used. This assured reasonably good
sport and a test of fishing skill.

When I returned to the house, my friend remarked that he
had to go to town for supplies a distance of probably ten
miles. For reasons that will soon be obvious, let us call him
John Doe. I offered transportation, so we went In my car. After
he had purchased his supplies, I stopped at a service station
for gas, and while the tank was being filled by an attendant, I
engaged the owner of the station In conversation regarding the
fishing In these parts. He gave me some Interesting informa-
tion about the local streams and finally got around to describ-
ing the private water I had fished earlier that day. Here, he
claimed, was some of the finest trout water In that region.

He went on, at considerable length and In no uncertain
terms, to tell me what he thought of such a mean, despicable,

ig6 Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

unpopular soand-so as that guy John Doe was to close that
portion of the stream to fishermen. By the time he had finished,
there was little of a derogatory nature that could still be said
about my friend who was occupying the front seat with me.

Finally, after I had paid my bill and was about to pull out of
the station, the owner turned to my friend and said, "Haven't
I seen you somewhere before? You look familiar to me." There
was a very quiet moment before my host answered, "Yes, you
have. I happen to be that old so-and-so John Doe." I lost no
time putting the car in gear and pulling away from the pumps.

There may be no particular moral to this incident, but it
brings up the question of posted water and its effect on fishing,
as well as the ethics involved. Many take the view that posting
cannot legitimately be defended. After all, the water is flow-
ing, will eventually pass beyond the boundaries of the property,
and belongs to the public. This may well be true, but on the
hard-fished streams of the East today, there seems to be no other
way for the owners of country places to preserve their fishing
than to resort to the closing of their water to the public. After
a stream or a goodly portion thereof has been posted, the fish
and game commission will not stock its waters or at least that
portion which is closed to the public. It becomes necessary for
the owner to plant his own fish at his own expense.

It has been my good fortune to gain permission to fish some
of this posted water. As a rule it offers good fishing, but in my
opinion not any better than that on some of the streams in the
West, where practically all water is open to the public. Of all
the Western streams that I have fished, I can remember a total
of only ten or fifteen miles that were closed to the public. Many
of the owners of the Eastern streams have been so annoyed at
the carelessness of fishermen that self-protection has obliged
them to adopt the only alternative, that of closing their places
to the general public. It must be admitted in all fairness that
their action is not necessarily motivated by selfishness. After
all, they stock these waters at their own expense and wish only
to ensure perpetuity of fishing on their property. It is cer-
tainly gratifying to know that, when you fish over private water,

Stream Ethics 157

you will not find bait cans, leader cards, lunch debris, and
empty bottles along the stream.

The one great danger to this type of closure is that in time
practically all the best water may fall into the hands of a
favored few, as it did years ago in England. The practice of
some of the Eastern fish and game commissions of leasing
stream-fishing rights from the owners and opening them to
the public use is a most commendable one and may be the
salvation of trout fishing for the holder of a fishing license.

Only recently, as I was fishing an Idaho stream, wading and
keeping purposely in the water, a rancher accosted me and
wanted to know what I meant by trespassing on his property.
Anyone who has fished the waters of this magnificent state
knows that, as long as he keeps in the stream, no one can evict
him. Probably the rancher knew this as well as I but was still
of the opinion that I had no business there. I reminded him
that as a resident of Idaho he should be conversant with the
law pertaining to such matters. He had no comment to make,
but as he walked away remarked that he did not want anyone
around his land.

I proceeded with my fishing, and not long afterwards, I
learned that this rancher was not too well liked in the vicinity,
that he always liked to show his authority, and lived up to a
well-earned reputation of being just "ornery."

A friend of mine is a cattleman who leases one of the large
ranches in the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. Although
there are no trout streams here, the behavior of the public,
one spring, was the cause of my friend's taking steps to prevent
a similar occurrence forever after.

This region was at one time famous for Its display of wild
flowers. It is impossible to describe the beauty of this sight
one year it was so extensive and so spectacular that the Na-
tional Geographic Society sent an expedition to the area to
make photographs of the display which were later published
in Kodachrome in the magazine. The owner had directed his
men to construct stiles over the barbed-wire fences so that
the public could more readily climb over into the adjacent

ipjg Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

fields. This was done at considerable expense and effort. The
public was welcome. In many cases, however, instead of ob-
serving the rights of the owner, people deliberately took pliers
from their cars and cut down the fences so they could drive
their cars all over the fields. The result was that many head of
cattle were turned loose to wander all over the main roads
and the distant fields. The only protection for the next season
was to plow under the entire ranch where the display of flowers
had given such great pleasure to thousands of people. This
region now is just another plowed field. I cannot conceive of
any fisherman's ever cutting down a fence, but it is such out-
rageous behavior as that just described that often tempts an
owner to post his stream against all hunters and fishermen.

One more illustration should suffice to show why portions
of some streams are closed to the public. In the High Sierra of
California is a meadow stream containing some of the best
brown-trout water in the United States. It was on two miles of
this stream, enclosed by a fence, that on an opening day fifteen
or twenty years ago the game warden checked at the gate 187
limits of trout by eleven o'clock in the morning. People were
able to catch trout, at will, by any means.

On the upper reaches of this meadow, a cattleman grazed
a large herd of Herefords. They were shy and, being of pure
strain, somewhat nervous. Fishermen sometimes unintention-
ally stampeded these cattle, causing them to race over the ad-
jacent hills. It was not deliberate action on the part of the
fishermen, but every time this happened the animals would
lose possibly 5 to 10 pounds. With a vast herd and with beef
at so much per head, it can readily be computed just what the
loss was to the owner in dollars and cents. This took place so
often that finally the proprietor posted the entire property,
thereby closing to the public some of the finest water that I
have ever fished.

It took me some time to convince the owner that I would re-
spect his rights and detour around the herd, but I finally suc-
ceeded, with the result that for one season I enjoyed some of
the finest dry-fly fishing of my entire experience. Since that

Stream Ethics 159

season, before the war, the property has changed hands, and
now there is no fishing at all on it. It must be teeming with
trout today, but all the requests and all the persuasion in the
world have been o no avail. The experiences of the past con-
vinced the new owner that no exceptions could be made to his
ruling.

After all, it is again the application of the golden rule of
sportsmanship that counts the most in our sport.

Without fear of contradiction, I can say that if you want to
know a man, go with him on a two-weeks' camping and fishing
expedition. Probably it would be better to recommend that
you get to know him well before you do this. If there is any
place where a man shows up in his true form, it is under cir-
cumstances where you have to live with him constantly in the
open.

Many trips have been ruined by one man in a party who
is incompatible. Maybe he is not willing to do his share of
the work. We can excuse the man who is willing but lacks the
experience give him a chance and he will learn. We can live
with and enjoy the companionship of a person who is our exact
opposite in his thinking, politics, or religion, but if he is in-
herently lazy, he has no place in camp.

On one occasion, through no choice of my own, I had one
man among several guests at my cabin who requested that his
coffee be brought to his bedside in the morning before he got
up. The fire had to be burning for an hour or so before he
would turn out. This peccadillo might be forgiven, but during
the four days not once did he offer to lift his hand to help with
the many little things that have to be done around a cabin.
Needless to say, this particular trip was not what might be
called a success. Very rarely is there an exception to the rule
of share the work.

On the other side of the picture, through my love of trout
fishing with the dry fly, I have met people who, as time went
on, came to be counted as my warmest friends. The common
interest, the love of the outdoors, the enthusiasm for the sport,
the exchange of ideas, and the countless other matters that

i6o Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

fishermen have in common are the means of lifelong friend-
ships. There is no sport that may bring complete strangers to-
gether and make them friends more quickly, regardless of their
station in life, than trout fishing. For many years I have been
traveling alone to places remote from my home for the sole
purpose of trying new streams. Rare have been the times that
I did not find, shortly after a few days of fishing a new stream,
some companionable fellow fisherman to share my sport.

Not only have I made lasting friends of many, but I have
learned that, if one is unassuming and modest in his behavior,
he can learn much from the other man in stream lore. The one
thing about this sport is that, no matter how long we fish or
how many years we may have visited a particular stream, the
fact remains that there is yet much to learn. Life is just too
short to acquire much knowledge. In man's allotted span, we
only scratch the surface of the field of learning, gaining the
most of what we know from the experiences of others and
contributing so little from our own.

On the bank of a trout stream all men stand on a level of
equality. Here are no class distinctions. How many flies I have
been given by complete strangers, how many I have given
to others, how many little favors I have received from these
fellow fishermen all over the United States, men who have
never seen me before but, in the enjoyment of their sport,
wished to share it with anotherl The question of stream ethics
can be applied not only to our behavior on the stream toward
fellow fishermen but also to our relations with the man who
may not have had the experience or the time to practice and
perfect his fishing to the extent that others have had. If we
are able to help the other fellow to gain the greatest pleasure
from his sport, then it is my belief that by the simple applica-
tion of the golden rule we experience the greatest benefit.

One of the most striking illustrations of this truth took place
just before the war when I was spending the summer at a guest
ranch in Montana. I arrived there about the first of August,
when the water was just getting to a stage that indicated a dry
fly would bring results. Inasmuch as some of the guests were

Stream Ethics 161

"trout hungry," I brought in on two successive days a fair
catch of fish. The wet-fly fishermen were not doing too well,
and one of them, who was connected with Hollywood's chief
industry, showed more than a passing interest in my catches.
It may be said with truth that he was more or less of a novice
at this trout-fishing game. His tackle was run-of-the-mill, the
rod decidedly "whippy/* the line too light even for this rod.
But he did manifest an open mind.

After considerable practice on the front lawn of the ranch,
we decided to try a small tributary of the main stream. Unbe-
known to my Hollywood friend, I had spotted the day before
a fair fish that held out behind a large rock. I had raised him
but failed to hook him. The beginner's position was estab-
lished in range of this lie, and he was told to cast in the pocket.
His aim, by some miracle, was perfect. The fly dropped lightly
to the water's surface, the trout took with a vengeance, the
strike was, by the grace of the Lord, perfectly timed. The fight
was on, and the fun began. The fish was landed a 1 4-inch
rainbow. Let it here be said that my friend was shaking like a
leaf and could hardly unhook his catch.

From that day on this man was a completely changed person
he now lives only to look forward to his dry-fly fishing. He
has reached that stage in his fishing where he now dares to
speak with the greatest of authority to every wet-fly man he
encounters. After all, he has been fishing dry fly, as a sum total
of time, probably something less than four or five months!
Probably by the time he has worked over the problem for
some thirty years, he will understand and become conscious
of his limitations at this game. Already, on occasion, the fish
are beginning to show him up.

Although anyone can with practice become proficient
enough with the dry fly to catch trout, there are some who
master it in a relatively short time. This is true in any sport.
My constant fishing companion for the past few years, who,
up to the time I met him, was a wet-fly fisherman exclusively,
was one of the most apt pupils I ever had. Within a very few
days he was casting a dry fly with the finesse of any "old-tinier/'

z 6s Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Practice has Improved his style until he can now equal the
best. It is he who appears In many of the Illustrations In this
book.

As I have said, one of my greatest pleasures has lain In help-
Ing the other fellow to gain greater pleasure from his sport.

On the Sturgeon River In Michigan I had an Illustration of
generosity which I shall always remember. I was driving to
the West Coast from the East and had stopped for a few days*
fishing on this river. The only reason why I stopped over was
that in driving down the river I had pulled up long enough to
watch two small local boys pull out a fish apiece on grasshop-
pers.

The next day I had mediocre success, even though I tried
almost every fly in the book. After deciding that probably I
should get In the car and move on to the Western streams, I
met a dry-fly fisherman who was on his way home with a
beautiful catch. We stopped to talk, and in the conversation
the fisherman learned that I was from California. The stranger
suggested that he take me to a portion of the stream where I
might have better luck. When we arrived there, after a half
hour's drive, he Insisted that I accept a half dozen of his own
choice dry files. Either the files or the particular portion of
the stream accounted for a beautiful catch. After he was as-
sured that I was Into good fishing, the fisherman went his way.

Here Is a typical example, one of many that I have en-
countered, of the willingness of a stranger to help a fellow
fisherman. It is a great fraternity to belong to. Its dues are
only the willingness to help the other fellow enjoy his sport.
I can say In all honesty that the best friends I now have axe
those I have met on fishing trips.

Qs f

BE IT rainbow, brown, or Eastern brook, one never knows
what he may find In the way of fishing on a new stream. It
never pays to take for granted what some local citizen may
tell you about trout fishing. You may be in a new location and
have a day or so to spend on some unfamiliar stream. The
usual procedure In a case like this Is to drop In at the sporting-
goods store and make inquiry as to the prospects. Generally,
you will get reliable Information as to the conditions on the
particular waters. There are times, however, when you may be
told that most of the creeks and rivers In the vicinity are
fished out. Fishermen are no exception to the old adage that
the distant pastures are the greener. Even where there may
be halfway decent trout fishing, the resident anglers feel they
must get away to more remote streams.

If there is any chance at all, It always pays to try. You might
surprise yourself as well as some of the natives with your re-
sults. As long as the fish and game commission has planted
any trout during the past few years on any river or creek, there
Is always the chance. A typical Illustration of this took place
as follows. It was In the late summer of 1939 that I had been
fishing the Montana streams and had two weeks left of my
vacation. I was driving through eastern Idaho and had, at
different service stations and tackle stores en route, asked the
local fishermen what they thought of a certain stream not far
from the capital of the state. The answer was always the same:

164 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

"Well, that used to be a good stream, but it has been fished to

death. If you want to get good fishing for rainbow, you'd
better get farther away from the good roads." The information,
to say the least, was discouraging. However, there were two
weeks left, and I had had all the camping and roughing it I
wanted for the season. The nights were getting cold frost
and freezing every night and the opportunity to get a heated
cabin with shower was an inducement to try this stream againsr
the advice of the local fishermen.

Arriving at my destination, I had no trouble in obtaining
suitable accommodations. The next move was to visit the
tackle store located practically on the stream. The advice here
was not what you would consider encouraging, yet the proprie-
tor admitted that some fish had been taken earlier in the season.
He remarked that he would like to learn how I made out. Most
of the nimrods at this time of the year had turned their atten-
tion to hunting, so the competition on the stream was not too
heavy. I started in at the edge of town, working carefully every
part of the stream. For an hour or more there was not a sign of
a rise or any evidence of a fish. "Well/* I thought, "we never
learn. If I had listened to the men who live in this state, I could
probably now be on some stream in the High Sierra of Cali-
fornia where I know there are fish." Another half hour passed
with no better success. Once I thought I detected a flash at my
fly but could not be positive.

I had about made up my mind to call it quits, when it hap-
pened. The ly went under in a heavy swirl the fish was on.
Characteristically, he headed downstream, went over the
rapids, the hook pulled out, and he was gone. But the trout
were there anyway. Certainly not the only single fish in the
stream had been hooked. Another hour's fishing brought four
or five good rainbows to net. I decided not to say anything to
the proprietor of the store until I could try the stream again.

At this time of the year it does not pay the fly fisherman to
get on the stream too early in the morning. Until nine or ten
o'clock the weather does not warm up enough to start the fish
moving. After some well-needed rest, I was on the stream at

Fished-out Streams 165

nine-thirty the next morning, taking up my fishing where I had
left off the day before. I decided to carry a creel, so that, if I
were successful, I could bring in the evidence to the tackle
dealer. It was not long before I began to connect, and that day
the fishing was as good as anyone could wish. The catch of fish
taken is shown in the illustration facing page 166. The tackle
dealer was somewhat surprised. He had a display icebox in
which he placed the catch on the sidewalk directly in front of
his store. Before doing this, he had locked the store and in-
sisted that I accompany him on a trip down the main street,
stopping in at the places of business with my fish so that his
friends could see what came out of a "fished-out" stream. The
news spread, with the result that in one of the state's news-
papers there was quite an account of a good catch of trout
taken from a stream that had been passed up by the local fisher-
men. Needless to say, the next few days saw quite a horde of
fishermen in action along these waters.

With the exception of the war years, I have been returning
to this stream every year to spend a portion of my vacation.
The fishing has held up remarkably well.

You may find near your home there is still some good trout
fishing that everyone has been passing up due to the fact that it
is reported as being "fished out." Possibly many years ago it
was a good stream and afforded fair sport. As the years went
by, the fishing became poorer and poorer until at last no one
ever thought it worth the effort to try it. You may have passed it
many times and just knew it was useless to take the time even
to string up your rod. In the great majority of such cases you
were probably right, but now and then there is an exception.
Maybe unbeknown to anyone the fish and game commission
planted a few cans of trout, or possibly there were some sur-
vivors which in turn grew and propagated more fish.

Within a half-hour drive of my home there is a stream that
at one time afforded some excellent sport. On March 2, 1938,
there occurred in southern California one of the most disas-
trous floods in the history of the white man in this region.
There had been several days of continuous and exceptionally

166 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

heavy rain. The ground was soaked to the saturation point, so
that all the rain falling ran off the ground could not absorb
another drop. On top of this, there occurred a cloudburst. The
flood damage was appalling, and the effect on the few streams
in this region was catastrophic. The San Gabriel River, with a
normal September flow of about 30 or 40 cubic feet per second,
discharged at the peak of the 1938 flood some 94,000 cubic feet
per second. Trees that were over a hundred years old were
picked up and carried away as though they were mere saplings,
all vegetation along the stream and high up on the banks was
washed away, pools were silted up with boulders and gravel.
The whole stream,, from that time to the present day, has been
running over a bank of gravel. The fishing has never been the
same. Trout are planted and caught out soon thereafter; the
stream food supply has become almost nonexistent. Although
the stream is slowly recovering, it will be years before it returns
to normal.

This stream, being the closest of any to the metropolitan
area of Los Angeles and surrounding cities, has always been
heavily fished. On opening day of the season fishermen used to
line its banks, but the great majority of them did all their fish-
ing early in the season, and beyond the end of the first month
of the open season very few would continue. It was the popular
opinion that, in order to get fish, it was necessary to go up-
stream some five to eight miles.

One afternoon in May, 1937, a companion and I decided
to try the stream in its lower reaches. We had been on the
stream but a short time before we began to take fish, some of
which were of good size, running up to 14 and 16 inches.
Every week end until the middle of July would find us on this
portion of the stream. Our results were phenomenal, and the
fishing held up until we went on summer vacation to the
Rockies. Early that spring we had planned a yoo-mile round
trip to the High Sierra over the Fourth of July week end, but
our success on this stream was so good that the trip was can-
celed, and we did our fishing in our own back yard. In the

Frank carefully returns a trout. The man who limits his kill helps all trout fishermen.

Trout from the "fished out stream" in Idaho.

Photograph of the autho , CoBrta , (Ae ^

rs Photograph

Tished-out Streams 167

many week ends we fished there, we never met another fisher-
man on this portion of the river. We made a few guarded in-
quiries of other fishermen as to the advisability of fishing this
stretch, and the answer was always the same: "No good, fished
out" They had never tried it themselves, apparently, but
jumped to conclusions and had passed up excellent sport. We
two did not feel obligated in any way to disillusion them.

That September and October found us again on the same
part of the San Gabriel, and the results were fully as good as
earlier in the season. We talked about the sport we would
have the next spring and summer of the year 1938, but the
disastrous flood of that spring and its results on the river pre-
cluded any possibility of trout. We tried portions of the river,
but it was entirely devoid of fish. Here, within the shadow of
the fourth largest city in the United States, was an example
of good fishing in a fished-out stream.

You will admit, I think, that there is no greater disappoint-
ment to a trout fisherman than to have some catastrophe befall
his favorite stream. You may have fished this particular water
for years, you remember throughout the closed season just
where you took a prize trout the summer before, you live over
time and time again many of the experiences you had there.
You look forward with the keenest anticipation to the open
season when once again you will be casting your fly on it. Then
something happens to ruin your anticipated sport as the follow-
ing experience indicates.

Within a short distance of the largest city in the Southwest,
there is, or rather was, a small stream of special interest. It was
the outlet of a reservoir forming part of the city's water supply,
and its flow was dependent entirely upon the release of water
from the reservoir. This stream was thickly overgrown, with
poison oak predominating. It flowed down through a canyon
for some seven or eight miles, closely following a state high-
way, and then, like many California streams, disappeared into
the gravels of the piedmont area. The water was regularly
stocked each year. Being so close to the city, it received a heavy

i68 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

amount of fishing, but since so many parts were made inac-
cessible by the thick undergrowth, numerous trout survived
the onslaughts of the fishermen.

The canyon itself was a place of beauty. Through the spring
and into the early summer the wild flowers grew in profusion.
It was a delight to be in such surroundings. As for the fishing,
one never expected to take a trout of over 12 or 13 inches, but
the average would run 9 or 10. This little stream afforded a
fine opportunity for relaxation and enjoyment.

In 1948, I decided that a day or two after the opening of
the season I would try my luck on this small stream. I drove up,
parked my car, and walked over to the brook. Imagine my
surprise to find that it was as dry as the road. Inquiry revealed
that for the first time in over twelve years the water had been
completely shut off at the reservoir. During the past four
winters there has been an extremely low precipitation in
southern California. The authorities probably felt that they
must conserve every drop. But after all, the small amount that
could keep the fish population alive would hardly have been
missed. Here, many people were deprived of a recreation that
had been enjoyed for years. This is cited as an instance of
relative values. Would not the returns in pleasure afforded the
fishermen and campers have been of as much value as the water
conserved?

From this dried-up stream I drove to the hatchery, a matter
of some twenty miles. Here, from the state's fish culturists I
learned an interesting thing. The fish that I had caught during
the preceding years were browns, at least the great majority
of them were, and my friend, the state's chief culturist, told
me that the last plant of brown trout in this stream had taken
place eleven years before. The fact that my catches had con-
sisted almost 100 per cent of browns provides an instance of
the great survival rate of this species of trout on an extremely
hard-fished stream. The brown trout has this ability to survive
under adverse conditions. He can stand warmer water, heavier
fishing, and yet will continue to reproduce and afford good
dry-fly fishing. In fact, he is the one fish, in my experience, that

Fished-out Streams 169

is the most consistent dry-fly trout. However, let it be under-
stood that in the past ten or fifteen years I have caught more
rainbow and cutthroat on a dry than I have brown. This is
probably due to the fact that I have been fishing the great share
of my fishing time on those particular streams in the Rockies
that contain no brown trout at all.

If you have been away on a vacation to some distant trout
country and have not had too good success, it is always pleasant
to return to your local waters and discover that here is as good,
if not better, fishing than you had far afield. Maybe you have
been "chasing rainbows/' taking the word of someone whose
enthusiasm carried him away with the result that you just had
to try some of that wonderful fishing he told you about. His
ideas of what constituted wonderful fishing may not have con-
formed with your ideas on this subject. Possibly you saw some
new and beautiful country which, in a measure, compensated
for the lack of sport. Anyway, you will agree with me, I think,
that you can write off the trip to experience gained, and you
have the satisfaction of knowing you will not go there again.

If there is time on the next week end, and fishermen seem
to find the time some way, you will probably be anxious to try
your favorite local stream. In comparison with the vacation's
results, you will be most agreeably surprised. If the catch is
good, you will admit that the old home stream is not too bad
after all. It happened to me in the following manner:

I had been fishing for six weeks in Montana, Wyoming,
and Idaho. Having two weeks left, I decided to return to my
cabin in the High Sierra of California. I was within an hour's
drive of my destination, rolling along the main highway from
Reno to Los Angeles, which parallels the West Walker River
for about ten miles. It was only three o'clock in the afternoon,
and the day was beautiful, the river most enticing. It had been
all of twenty-four hours since I had wet a line any fisherman
will agree that that is a long time and here, after all, was an
opportunity. I parked my car, strung up my rod, and went to
work with a Light Cahill No. 14.

This stream is temperamental. There are times when you

i^o Dry -Fly Trout Fishing

would swear it contained no trout, while again you may fish it
and do fairly well. It takes a tremendous punishment from all
types of fishermen. It is heavily stocked with aged fish. One's
catch, when the fishing is good, will average about 8 inches in
length, with an occasional 12- or 1 4-inch trout.

I had succeeded in taking a few small fish and was beginning
to think that I had been in too great a hurry to get home from
the fine fishing of the Rockies. But I had plenty of time to kill,
so I kept at it. Under the far bank there was a deep, interesting-
looking, dark glide. Although no fish were rising, the fly xvas
sucked under by a trout whose dorsal fin came clear of the water
as he turned downward after taking the fly. It was a good fish
a brown that measured 21!^ inches. It was the largest trout
I had taken that season, beautiful and well developed, and it
had given an excellent account of itself. This fish was taken
on a very light rod, which added all the more zest to the sport.
Anyway, after traveling over a thousand miles, fishing the
distant streams, here, practically in the back yard of my cabin,
I captured the prize of the whole season.

The foregoing accounts may serve to interest the reader in
trying some of those close-to-horne streams that have the repu-
tation of being "fished out." Don't take too literally and too
much to heart the adage that "distant fields are always greener."

ijz'isn

No ACCOUNT of fishing of any kind would be complete without
some mention of the big fish that by some means or other "got
away." Although some of the following tales may seem far-
fetched to the reader, I can vouch for their authenticity. They
are included here merely to show that anything can happen
in a lifetime of fishing.

Probably only by bitter experience do we learn of the things
that we should do otherwise, were the situation to occur again.
Two instances stand out in my mind which prove that it always
pays to net your own fish. If you lose a good trout by your own
mistakes, you can blame only yourself.

Years ago, on a High Sierra stream in California, I was
fishing through a meadow. There were some mammoth trout
in this stream, but rarely did they rise to a surface fly. A few
had been taken from time to time on minnows. One had tipped
the scales at over 1 3 pounds; not a few had been caught that
would go as high as 7 pounds, but rarely had any been taken on
a surface fly that would go over 5 pounds.

On this particular day, there had been a hatch starting at
about ten-thirty in the morning and lasting through the
middle of the day. As I approached one of the largest and
deepest runs, I was aware of a fish rising close to the opposite
bank. It was a deliberate, well-timed rise. There were plenty
of flies on the water, and the trout was getting a fair share of
the ones that floated over his position. He was a good fish, but

171

172 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

it was impossible to tell whether he was anything to get ex-
cited about. The day was warm and exceptionally clear. I was
using a larger fly than usual, a Quill Gordon No. 12. It was
late in June, the time of year that the spring runoff from the
melting snows of the 10,000- to i4,ooo-foot levels is just be-
ginning to cease. The water stage was slightly higher than
normal, but clear enough for a dry fly.

Not realizing what I was getting into, I cast my fly above the
feeding fish and watched it drift down over the lie of the trout.
True to form, there was a surge, the fly went under, and I set
the hook. At first the response of the fish was slow he just
moved away from the bank and kept on moving down toward
the end of the run, where he remained stationary for a few
seconds. He then moved back up to his original feeding posi-
tion. There was no hurry, but I had the impression that more
power was being displayed than I had felt in all my years of
fishing. I began to realize that I had hooked a monster. After
the trout had returned to his former position, he sulked for a
few seconds, then again slowly and deliberately came over to
my side of the stream, where he passed within 4 or 5 feet of me.
Soon he was in clear view, moving by as though he had all the
time in the world. No trout ever took his own time more than
this fish did. But what actually scared me was his tremendous
size. If ever I had the feeling that I had better chuck my outfit
into the stream and run for safety, it was at the moment when
I really caught sight of this fair-sized submarine moving by
me.

Before long the fish began to take matters into his own
hands. At the start of this encounter I called to the people in
the cabin, a short distance from where I was playing the trout.
At least five people responded and took up their positions on
the bank one man a fisherman of parts who had a reputation
as an outdoorsman specializing in trout fishing. He remarked
that it was then just eleven and that he would keep time on
this trout, In case we were successful in landing him. The
fight was warming up all that could be done was to keep a
tight line and pray that the outfit would hold together. After

Fish Tales 1*73

centuries the big fish began to surface, coming more and more
into view for the benefits of the assembled gallery. It was now
eleven thirty-five, and the battle was still going strong. The
outdoorsman took his position in the stream with a deep
landing net, ready to assist if needed. The runs of the fish
grew weaker and weaker. But there was no chance of leading
him around to where he could be netted his weight was too
much for the tackle to take. Finally, he surfaced, turned over
on his side, and gasped.

Here was the critical moment the time for the fisherman
to take over and have his way. Our friend, the outdoorsman,
slipped up to the fish, the net ready for action. Here we should
draw the curtain on the subsequent happenings. It may have
been the size of the trout, it may have been lack of experience
on the part of the netter; whatever it was, there was no ques-
tion as to the disastrous results of my friend's netting tech-
nique. He made one lunge, actually scooping up the fish into
the air in a position across the net instead of into it. Its head
lay on one side, its body curved down into the net, and its tail
hung over the far edge. The "helper" tilted the net away from
me, the trout slipped off the far side, and the leader popped.

The man looked at his wrist watch and remarked, "It is now
just eleven forty-five/' It had taken just forty-five minutes to
subdue the giant trout and to lose it. The outdoorsman said
not a word, nor did I. Everybody, including me, just walked
silently back to the cabin. After a long interval the age-old
question was asked, "How big do you think he was?" The most
conservative estimate was that he would run from 29 to 32
inches in length, his weight probably well over 10 pounds and
maybe as high as 12. It was "the big fish that got away," but
the moral of this tale is stated briefly: "Always net or land
your own fish."

We never do learn, though, do we? Years afterward I was
fishing an Idaho stream with a finished dry-fly fisherman. I
had all confidence in this man because he was a meticulous
person; his tackle was always shipshape and his casting of the
best. I hooked a big rainbow, which broke water in front of

^ Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

me on its first leap. My net was in the car all my fish had been
released that morning. Here was another big trout that would
be a credit to anyone's catch. I called to my friend to come with
his net. The fight lasted for probably ten minutes, until the
fish was brought down to the tail end of the pool, where it soon
turned over on its side. My friend had his net fastened to the
ring in his creel harness and started to release it for the final
stage of the game. He got no farther than the fumbling stage.
The ring was just a little too large for the opening of the
French snap on the net handle, something jammed, and for
what seemed an hour my companion just stood there trying
to unclasp the tiling, with no success. Under conditions of
strain such as these, one often thinks along only one line in
this case, that the net would be released any second. It would
have been comparatively easy to gill the trout, but neither of
us tried. Again the old story. The rainbow became rested and
slowly swam over to the side of the pool, where he took refuge
under some old, dead, submerged willows. The leader popped,
and he went his way. The moral to this one? Oh, just the same
as the other always land your own trout!

I recall another instance where a large number of trout got
awa y not one, but a creelful. The Owens River, near the
town of Bishop, California, is a slow-flowing stream, contain-
ing some large trout. Portions of it are heavily fished, but other
stretches are bordered with dense willow growth which is prac-
tically impenetrable. Only rarely will there be a small opening
into which a man may squeeze his way and gain access to the
river s edge. The river is wide, so that these overhanging wil-
lows leave a clear open space over the center of the stream,
possibly 10 to 20 feet in width, depending upon whether the
stream widens out into a pool or is confined to a narrower
channel by more swiftly flowing water, I first fished this part
of the river some twenty years ago, and then only in very
limited portions where I could gain access through the few
open spots. I often wondered what I might do if I could only
reach these overgrown portions. I was soon to find out.

One day when I was in Bishop, I met a resident friend of a

Fish Tales 175

few years' standing. This friend was recognized as the best
fisherman in the valley; those who are acquainted with the
people of Bishop will readily know him by the name of
"George." George is a man of short stature and light weight,
while I am just the opposite, being well over 6 feet and tipping
the scales at something over 200 pounds. George welcomed me
with open arms he was greatly excited over an episode of a
few days before. He had acquired a small rubber boat a rare
article in those days before the war and had floated the river
between the willows, with results on the trout that were almost
unbelievable. Would I go with him on a similar expedition
that very afternoon? After extending the invitation, George
looked me over and remarked that he did not know whether
or not we could get into the rubber "bubble." We were both
good swimmers, however; so we decided to take the chance.
The inflated boat, being surprisingly small, was readily in-
stalled in the trunk of an old Model A Ford, and we headed
for the river.

George selected a spot where we could launch the craft. We
took our lives in our hands and shoved off. It was not till that
moment that George and I discovered how small the thing
really was discovered not only the cramped space, but the
fact that we hardly dared breathe lest we upset into the cold
water of mid-October. By extremely careful balance and
manipulation of the craft we were able to keep upright. What
we lacked in safety, however, we made up in quality and ac-
tivity of fishing. One of us would hold on to the overhanging
willows, while the other would cast through the open spaces.
The trout were responsive, and in an hour or two we had all
the fish we wanted, running from 12 to 16 inches in length.
We had the feeling of pioneers navigating some unknown
stream. Finally, we decided to call it a day and float on down
about an eighth of a mile to the next opening, where we could
reach the shore.

But, alas! One of us, in the slow current, hung onto a willow
just an instant too long, with the result that the boat turned
over faster than chain lightning. It happened, of course, at the

i^6 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

upper end of the very deepest pool. Our ability to swim saved
us, but It did nothing to temper the chill of the autumn water.
We hung on to the boat and pushed it along to one side, where
we could at least stand on bottom. The trout rod was re-
covered by fishing with a willow branch, but the creel of fish
must have drifted under an overhanging bank, because it was
never found. Fortunately, we had but a short distance to float
down to where we could disembark, build a fire, and dry out
a little. You never know, until the fish are in the frying pan,
whether or not they are your property.

On another occasion, while fishing on a stream in the Cats-
kills of New York, I lost a creel full of fish. It had been won-
derful fishing for three hours, until a sudden summer shower
came along. Sometimes, during these light storms, the fish
react in a manner that is surprising and welcome to the fisher-
man. I was near the car, so I took out my raincoat, put it on,
placed my creel over it, and returned to the stream. It was
quite a downpour. The fish started to feed, and in about ten
minutes after entering the stream I took the next trout. I
reached around to creel my take, but there was no creel. Had
it been left at the car? Decidedly not. It had been strapped on
over the raincoat. The only explanation was that, in my hurry
to fish, I had neglected to fasten the snap securely; the creel
had dropped into the stream and gone on down the river.
Again, you never know what may happen.

One more instance of fish getting away after they have been
caught and creeled. It was on the Sespe River in southern
California. A friend and I were staying at a guest ranch one
spring when the fishing on this stream was excellent for the
first time in years. The proprietor of the ranch went in for all
types of domestic animals. There were four dogs, two of which
were the leanest, hungriest-looking hounds that ever lived.
They roamed the hills for days at a time, chasing rabbits and
coyotes, and they were so thin that when they stood broadside
one could almost see the light of day through them.

We had had fair luck and had taken a few good-sized trout,
which, in true fisherman style, we had placed on top of the

Fish Tales 177

catch. Who does not? On our return to the ranch our wives:
and the guests wanted to see what we had done. Naturally,
we were rather proud to show the results. We set the creels
down on the porch and pushed back the lids. After the usual
felicitations on the catches, the spectators resumed their seats,
and the fishermen went in to clean up. In about ten minutes
we returned, just in time to see the hounds gulping down the
last trout. It was the first time that I had ever seen dogs relish
raw fish. Needless to say, it was a fishless dinner that night for
the fishermen and their families.

Little things often play an important part in determining
whether or not we are to be successful in our endeavors. Some-
times the course of a man's entire life may be changed by some
small incident his work, his future, even his life itself may
hang in the balance because of some apparently insignificant
and trivial occurrence. A large trout was lost on a Colorado
stream through just such a triviality.

I stood in the water at the tail end of a deep run, with the
current close to the top of my breast waders. A big rainbow
sucked under the fly, and the hook was set. The fish showed his
size by breaking water not 6 feet from my face. He made a
run up the river, turned, and came back down at top speed.
It was impossible to recover line fast enough, although by
hand-stripping and allowing the retrieved slack to rest on the
surface, I was able to keep the fish under control.

My landing net was trailing behind me in the water as the
fish came toward me. It was only a second or two before the
rainbow again turned and headed upstream. The slack line
on the water had formed a half hitch around the trailing net,
the line went taut under the rush of the fish, the fly broke off
the leader, and away went the trout. The incident is cited
simply to show that just some little thing like a landing net's
trailing in the water behind the fisherman may be the cause
of his losing the biggest trout of the season. The moral is that
in this game you can never be too careful.

Enough, then, for the big ones that got away. Let us turn to
some instances of those trout that were not so lucky.

178 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

I have a friend who had never been steelhead fishing, but was
willing to try. We left late one afternoon for a long drive,
hoping to reach our destination in time for the next day's fish-
ing. Unbeknown to me, my friend had told his wife to invite
friends in for a steelhead dinner to be given after his return
a few days hence. Now, anyone who has had even the slightest
exposure to steelhead fishing knows that of all the species of
trout they are probably the least predictable and will un-
doubtedly agree that this man was taking a tremendous chance
on his guests' going hungry so far as eating fish was concerned.

It must be that a special providence watches over the be-
ginner, because, with a limit of three fish permitted, my friend
succeeded in taking two steelhead the next day by noon. Natu-
rally, he was thrilled by the battle that these fish gave him, but
he formed the erroneous opinion that it was a relatively simple
game, after all. He kept on fishing, thinking it would be no
trouble to take his third and last fish. By four o'clock he was
still trying. About five he let out a yell for me to come up and
see him land his third and last fish. He did land it, after a
tough fight. To our amazement the fish had been hooked
before. From its mouth trailed a leader with about 4 feet of
line on the end of it. The hook of my friend had passed
through the eye of this leader, and he had successfully played
and landed this fish by keeping a tight line. The only connec-
tion was that of his hook passing through the loop of the leader
trailing out of the fish's mouth.

My friend did have his guests in for the promised fish dinner.
It may be added that since that day we have fished together for
steelhead many times, but never again has he taken a limit of
three fish. In fact, both he and I have more often than not
returned from the stream empty-handed; so my friend has
finally learned that steelhead are truly unpredictable.

Some strange things may happen some coincidences that
are unexplainable. I have fished the Gallatin of Montana for
many years. It is a stream that I long supposed to be devoid of
any brown trout. For ten years or more I had never caught one.

On this occasion my Hollywood friend, mentioned earlier

Fish Tales i*jg

in this book, was with me. We had taken positions on opposite
sides of the stream, each fishing the water on his side and out
to the middle, so that all water was being covered. My friend
hooked a fish; an instant later I hooked one on my side of the
stream; and the two were landed in the sequence in which they
had been hooked. Up to that time my friend had never caught
any brown trout. When he landed his fish, he called across that
he had caught a strange-looking trout. Next minute I landed
my fish to discover that after ten years I had a brown trout
out of this stream. On looking at my friend's fish, I saw that
he, too, had taken the same species.

A coincidence, maybe, but it might be that the two were
traveling together, both with the same intent at the same time.
Where did they corne from? Were they, by some mistake,
planted with a can of rainbow? Browns have never been in-
tentionally planted in this river, at least to my knowledge. The
only explanation I can give is that over the divide flows the
Madison, a river that does contain browns, and many miles
away it joins with the Jefferson and the Gallatin to form the
Missouri. It could readily be that this pair of browns had
migrated down the Madison and back up the Gallatin. Any-
way, after ten years of fishing with only rainbow and cutthroat
being taken here, two brown trout were caught simultaneously.

I hesitate to tell of an experience that sounds as fishy as
the following, but I trust to the reader's indulgence to accept
it as a true occurrence. Not only did I land an 8-inch trout
on a very small brook within the city limits of Los Angeles,
but a water snake at the same time. I had been fishing a very
brushy, overgrown, tiny stream with here and there a place
open enough to permit casting a fly. As I hooked and was play-
ing this small fish, a water snake swam rapidly out into the
water, grabbed it, and tried to swim to shore with it. Immedi-
ately, what had been an easy battle developed into one of some
proportions. Finally, the snake was beached, still clinging de-
terminedly to the small trout. The snake was killed, and the
trout, being too badly mutilated to be of value, was left for
the birds to consume.

180 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Along a Sierra stream there are many blackbirds. Once, on
a backcast, I hooked one under the wing and succeeded in
bringing It safely to hand, where It was released. The battle it
put up while being landed did not amount to much, but at
least It tried to peck my hand. These two are the only experi-
ences unless I were to Include the two instances of my hook-
ing myself in the forehead that I have had in landing, on a
trout rod, anything except what the rod was intended to land.

When Fred Talbert and I were fishing in Idaho last summer,
one evening he decided to try his luck on the deep run opposite
the old sawmill, where he had raised a large fish a day or two
before. A small stream entered the main river at this point,
and up this small stream a hundred yards or so the beaver had
built a dam. The adjacent banks were aspen grown, and the
approach to the main river was through a lot of down trees
that the beaver had felled. The bark on these trees had been
cut off by them for their supply of food, while the smaller limbs
had been dragged Into the little creek to form their dams.

The fish were rising close to the far shore and Fred decided
to cast by the opposite bank, where he had previously raised
the large trout. A medium-sized swirl indicated that a fair fish
was interested, but he missed the fly. Taking a few steps up-
stream, Fred allowed his fly to float for several feet before he
cast again. On about the third try he felt rather than saw a
distinct tug on his line. Probably the fly had become sub-
merged in the swifter water near the far bank, Fred thought,
and the trout had taken It wet. There was no sudden rush of
the fish, there was no jumping, but just a strong, steady pull
upstream. This was the big trout of the day or so before, he
thought. There was no slacking of the line just that power-
ful, unrelenting pull as of a monster fish having his own way.

Suddenly the line was being taken from the reel, and Fred
had nothing to say or do with regard to turning the fish. The
line was melting off the spool of the reel In a manner that was
frightening. Would the trout ever turn and come back down-
stream? There was only one thing left to do keep a steady
pull and start moving upriver before the line completely

Fish Tales 181

melted away. Fred did just this, but all at once the fish turned
and started coming toward him at high speed. Strange, he
never jumped or showed himself, but there was no mistaking
the fact that here at last was the leviathan of all trout. "If I
could only tire him out, what a trophy he would make," Fred
told himself. Already, he could see him mounted and hanging
over the fireplace at home.

Now the fish was readily having his own way, and it became
necessary to follow him downstream. After Fred had kept up
with him for some fifty or a hundred feet, the trout decided
to cut straight across stream, and, as Fred surmised, seek cover
under the far bank. There was as yet no way of turning such a
fish, even though the battle had raged for at least ten min-
utes. Suddenly he turned downstream and headed for the
shallow water that sloped up to a gravel beach. Now Fred could
just see, in the faint dusk, the wake of this giant trout. He
kept on going toward the shallow water. "It's odd/* Fred
thought, "that a fish should resort to such unheard-of tactics."
Abruptly the trout turned downstream, and again it became
necessary for Fred to follow, until the fish turned at right
angles and headed for a shallow, sloping beach on the far side.
What a peculiar move for such a big trout, Fred thought. Cer-
tainly it was contrary to all tactics of any fish he had ever
played before. In the dusk he could see the wake of this giant
trout as in desperation it kept moving away.

So far, there was no turning of the fish in its determined
struggle. Fred's arm ached from the tension that he had ap-
plied. "How much longer can I keep up this fight?" thought
Fred. Yet the fish kept traveling toward the far shore into
shallower water. Suddenly a head emerged above the surface,
followed by the body of a beaver! No wonder the struggle
had reached such proportions. Pointing his rod tip directly at
the animal, Fred gave a sudden jerk, and the fly broke off. He
admitted that, although the results were somewhat surprising,
the battle had been "a thriller."

The Firehole and the Gibbon join each other within the
boundaries of Yellowstone Park to form the Madison River.

1 8s Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Shortly below their confluence there is a long, deep hole. It
was a few minutes after sunset when I arrived at this point on
a warm August evening. On the surface of this pool the water
was so agitated that it gave the appearance of hail striking it.
It was one of the largest hatches I have ever seen. The air was
dense with insects. It is a hatch of this magnitude that gives
us "buck fever'* the io6-degree brand. My fingers became
all thumbs in trying to tie on a fly that might interest the trout
to a small degree as compared with the natural. I worked for a
half hour, presenting the fly as carefully and as naturally as
possible yet without a fish even making a pass at the arti-
ficial. I knew that this active feeding spell would not last for-
ever, and I searched frantically to find the proper size or
pattern. Nothing, however, took the place of the natural.

Down in one corner of my fly box was an outlandish-looking
thing that resembled nothing in heaven or on earth. It was a
size 1 6 creation without name, given me by a chance acquaint-
ance, who claimed wonders for this fly. He had told me that if
ever I could not interest rising fish with anything I had, then
I should put this on and go to it. He practically guaranteed
results. Now, many fisfoennen have a certain fly of their own
creation that is supposed to be a panacea for all ailing trout.
In my journeyings along the streams of the United States I
have met many fishermen, and many are the fly creations I
have accepted from them. Very rarely do I use them, and more
rarely yet do I remember what the particular pattern may be.

On this pool I had reached a frame of mind where I would
be glad to try anything once, so I put this thing on and "heaved
it out on the pool" as per the instructions of its creator.

There was a swirl, a flash in the dwindling light, and a 14-
inch fish was giving a thrilling fight. He was released, and the
fly was cast again. Once more a good trout was hooked. This
sort of thing kept up for fifteen minutes; then the bottom of
the pool erupted, and some monster took the creation. There
was a sudden and violent rush, the leader broke, and that
ended the evening's fun. Did I remember what the "fly" looked
like? No, of course not. After all, I had carried, from time to

ny 5tream in

Photograph of the author tying dry flies. Globe Photos

Fish Tales jg*

time, a lot of other crazy creations that I had always thought
were the product of some warped imagination; so why should
I remember it? Anyway, I often wonder whether it was the
fly that did the trick, or whether the fish had suddenly made
up their minds to surface-feed, after possibly tailing for
nymphs, and I had accidentally synchronized my casting with
this desire to take surface food. I shall never know the answer
to this one.

We can often take advantage of a sometimes unobserved
opportunity, be it wind, light, or some other natural phenom-
enon. One evening, on a meadow stream in the High Sierra
of California, I came across a deep, long pool, and in the
fading light I cast a fly on its surface. The light was so poor
that it was possible to see the fly only when it was on the
smoothest portion of the surface. I took a fish but missed
several on account of poor visibility. The evening sky was on
my right as I faced south, looking upstream. The light had
faded to such a point that it was now impossible to see the
fly. I was about to give up, but waded across the riffle on the
lower end of the pool and took up a position that gave me
the reflection of the late evening sky on the whole length of the
run. By this reflected light I was able to see the fly as it floated
the entire length of the pool. It prolonged my fishing by at
least twenty or thirty minutes and enabled me to take ad-
vantage of a fast-developing hatch, with the result that eight
or nine fish were taken.

Another instance of taking advantage of what ordinarily
would be an obstacle to careful casting took place in Oregon
on a windy day. The blow was directly at right angles to the
course of the stream. Trying to cast from a position down-
stream from the fish was next to impossible. There were plenty
of rises to natural flies, which were being blown onto the
water from the adjacent meadows. By taking up a position 10
to 20 feet to windward from the stream's bank, it was possible
to let the wind straighten out the line directly above the water.
As I depressed the rod tip, the fly would touch the water sur-
face, sometimes being again lifted into the air by a sudden gust-

184 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Often it would rise and fall onto the surface by the action of
the wind alone. When it did this, the trout would take it with
a vengeance. By means o an unorthodox technique, what had
been a hopeless situation was turned into a fruitful experience.

Human nature Is such that we all enjoy playing the hero at
times. Be a man ever so modest and retiring, yet he will enjoy
the plaudits of an audience when he displays an accomplish-
ment. Fishermen are no exception to this rule.

One summer when I was passing through Wyoming, I had
taken out a license just in case there happened to be time to
do a little fishing. There always Is time, if you make up your
mind that you can arrange it. The road followed the stream
until finally the water smoothed out into some beautiful dry-
fly runs. There was a road block where some repairs and re-
surfacing were taking place. A flagman had asked me to wait
until the pilot car could take me through. He thought it might
be a matter of twenty minutes or so before I could proceed.
Of course, the block had to take place right alongside the best-
looking run I had so far seen. It was a shameful waste of time
just to sit there and wait, so I pulled off onto the side and
rigged up my tackle.

Taking a position at the tail end of the run, I cast the fly
several times, until a huge trout rose, took the fly without any
effort, and headed downstream. I let out a yell just as the men
on the road crew were about to turn their equipment around
and head the other way. All work on the road stopped short.

It would seem that the workers must have been fishermen,
as almost everyone in Wyoming is. Probably they expected a
short fight, and the work could wait. Such was not to be the
case. The rainbow had other plans in mind.

Now, a battle such as this fish can give is enough to excite
anybody's curiosity. Not to be left out of the picture, the oper-
ator of the blade grader shut off the machine, climbed down
out of his seat, and took up a strategic position to view the
battle. Wondering what had happened to him, other workers
came from their work to see what was holding up the repairs.
They soon found out and joined the gallery on the river bank.

Fish Tales 185

Before long, the whole job was shut down, and the attention
formerly given the repairs was now focused on the battle taking
place In the river. Advice was freely given and as freely ig-
nored. It was a matter of ten minutes or more before the fish
was finally brought to net.

The applause was terrific and, I must admit, well received.
If ever there was an appreciative audience, that road crew
was it. The rainbow was given to the road foreman to pacify
him somewhat for the traffic snarl that had resulted. Horns
had been blowing for fully five minutes from impatient, and
probably nonfishing, motorists who were anxious to get on
their way to see the natural wonders of Yellowstone, but their
impatience had gone completely unnoticed.

\^,0

IN CONCLUSION, It is my hope that In reading the foregoing
chapters you may have found some of the experiences may
help you to enjoy your sport more fully. They do not apply to
all cases; neither are all problems confronting the dry-fly fish-
erman solved by their application. They have been cited merely
to show what was done under certain circumstances. Your
greatest satisfaction when you are confronted with a special
problem will come in working out some solution that will
result in your catching the particular trout for which you are
working.

The art of casting a dry fly is not too difficult to learn
practice will bring perfection or as near perfection as any of
us may reach. Equipment will be acquired, and you will gain
a vicarious thrill In your fishing when you are fortunate enough
to procure a new rod or reel or any other piece of tackle. You
will be fascinated with the study of entomology as It applies
to the stream Insects you will observe a hatch with renewed
Interest once you are familiar with the different species.

By knowing some of the elementary principles of optics, you
should now be able to approach much nearer to your quarry
and to imagine what the trout sees of your world. You will
take special interest in water temperatures, and probably your
stream thermometer will now become what you consider a
most necessary adjunct. Possibly your mental attitude will be
such that you find perseverance one of the most important
words in your fishing vocabulary. You will take pleasure in
watching the barometer and its effect on your fishing. Uncon-
sciously you discover how the sciences play an Important part
In your success along the stream.

186

Conclusion 187

Maybe you will reap satisfaction in knowing something
about the different species of trout. You may learn where the
most probable lie of a good rainbow or brown may be. When
you raise a good trout from a place where you thought he might
be, you will, like all fishermen, give yourself a mental pat on
the back. You will feel that your knowledge helped to make
your enjoyment more keen.

You will reach the point in your fishing career when you
know you are helping your future fishing when you return
part of your catch to the stream. You are taking part in an
active conservation program by so doing. You will feel that
some time in the future you will return and again handle a
worthy antagonist.

You may gain as much pleasure in fooling a lo-inch trout
that has up to now outsmarted you as you may gain in landing
an 1 8-inch cagey fish. The small streams will become as
friendly, if not more so, as the larger rivers. You will enjoy
the surroundings through which they flow.

Finally, it is almost certain that you will keep a diary of your
fishing experiences, and before you again fish some favorite
stream, you will consult it religiously to see how you "fared
on it. So before saying good-by, let me say it in the terms of
the old expression so familiar to all of us: "A tight line to you/*

And now, after some forty years with the dry fly on many
of our broad country's streams, I ask myself, has it been worth
while? What have I gained? What have I to remember? The
answer is that if it were possible for me to go all through it
again, I probably would not change any of it in the slightest
way.

I remember not so much the weight of the contents of my
creel after a day's fishing, but rather the riot of color in the
wild flowers along a Sierra stream in July; light pouring like
liquid gold down through the October aspens; rhododendron
blooming in June along the Rondout in the Catskills; azaleas
along the Oconalufay in North Carolina; wild blackberries
in profusion along the Rogue in Oregon; the fragrance of the

i88 Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

pines on a warm summer's day on the bank of the Naches in
Washington; beavers at work in the early evening on the
Gallatin in Montana; a moose startled by the intruder on the
Grayling; a wildcat streaking across an open meadow and
pausing a moment at the edge of the timber for a farewell
look in the high country of New Mexico; deer drinking from
a pool along the crystal waters of the Neversink; a sleek mink
scampering across a log on an unnamed stream in Colorado;
a band of antelope near the Lost River in Idaho; two bull
moose along Henry's Fork of the Snake River, feeding on
weeds and keeping their heads under water almost to the point
of suffocation; the sunsets on the Owens River with the Sierra
as a backdrop across the meadows; and my once coming face
to face with a bear on the Red River of the Adirondacks.

The solitude of many of the streams I have fished, the peace,
the quiet, the time for reflection, the many friends I have made,
are to me my most priceless possessions. Yes, decidedly it has
been worth while.

When the time comes for Charon to ferry me across the
River Styx, perhaps I shall find that, contrary to popular be-
lief, it will be a smooth, placid stretch of dry-fly water, and
possibly he may pause long enough for me to drop a last dry
fly on its waters who knows?

Qsnaea;

Adams fly, 12, 28

Adirondack Mountains, 102, 122,

127, 143, 188

Allegheny Mountains, 143
Appalachian Mountains, 115
Ausable River, 143

B

Barometer, 80
Beaverkill, 143, 144
Berkshires, 116
Big Wood River, 101, 132
Blue Dun, 67
Blue Upright, 67
Broadhead River, 143, 148
Brown trout, 86, 93, 94
survival of, 168

Coleoptera, 66, 69

Color, trout's conception of, 76

Colorado, 7

Conduct, personal, 8

Connecticut, 81

Creels, 34

Cutthroat trout, 104

Deschutes River, 7, 143

Diptera, 66, 70

Dolly Varden trout, 105

Drag, 48-50

Dressings, for flies, 31, 35, 48

for lines, 25, 35
Dry flies, 28-32

conditions necessary for, 5

history of, 2
Dun Wei leaders, 26

Caddis flies, 68
Cahill fly, 28
California, 7, 28
Carolinas, 9
Castilla Creek, 123
Casting, false, 40

four phases of, 38-40

into a wind, 42

line recovery in, 43

loop, 49, 50

pointers on, 41

variations of, 41
Catskill Mountains, 2, 65, 72, 94,

127, i43-i44> 154. i? 6 > l8 7
Chemistry, 63, 76
Chrysopidae, 66
Clothing, 34, 75

E

Eastern brook trout, 102-103
Eastern and western fishermen,

142

Entomology, 64-70
Ephemeridae, 66, 67
Esopus Greek, 29, 72, 143, 145
Ethics, stream, 8, 151-162

Fanwing flies, 30

Fast water fishing, 30, 31

Firehole River, 77, 143, 181

Flies, 27-32

Fly boxes, 35

Fly dressings, 35

189

igo

Gallatin River, 98, 119, 136, 178

Gibbon River, 181

Glasses, sun, 36

Good fishing, definition of, 121,

123-124

Gordon, Theodore, 2, 144
Grayling, 105
Growth of trout, 77

H

Handling of trout, 114

Haney, Reaford, 56

Hatches of caddis, 68

High Sierra, 77, 91, 109, 113, 121,

*3*> i43> *5 8 > l6 9> l8 ' l8 7-

188

Hooking trout, 44, 52, 53
Hot Creek, 67, 77, 91, 94, 143
Hydraulics, 48, 49, 63
Hymenoptera, 66, 69

Idaho, 6, 7, 75, 98, no, 112
Imago, 64

K

Killing trout, 59
Klamath River, 135

Lake fishing, 147
Landing nets, 33
Larvae of insects, 64
Leaders, 25-27

calibration of, 26

nylon vs. silkworm, 26, 27
Light, refraction of, 70-72
Lines, 2425 .

dressings for, 25

recovery of, in casting, 4345
Little Wood River, 6
Loch Leven trout (see Brown
trout)

Dry-Fly Trout Fishing

Loop casts, 49, 50
Lost River, 98

M

Maple River, 68
Massachusetts, 116
May fly, 65
Mears, Joe, 113
Meteorology, 80-85
Methods, unorthodox, 148, 183
Michigan, 7, 9, 68, 77
Montana, i, 7, 81
Moose River, 122

N

Nets, landing, 33

Netting of trout, 55-57

Neuroptera, 66-69

Neversink River, 111, 143, 188

New Jersey, 9

New Mexico, 7, 42, 103, 122, 188

New York, 9

Nichols, Myron, 68

Novis, Harold, 58

Nymphs, 64, 139, 140

O

Oconalufay River, 115

Optics, 63, 70

Oregon, 9

Orvis, Charles, F., Co., 18, 35

Ousel, water, 108

Owens River, 80, 111, 139, 174,

188
Oxygen, 63, 76

Pennsylvania, 9
Perlidae, 67
Perseverance, 132, 135
Playing of trout, 53-55
"Pocket fishing," 30, 31
Posted streams, 125, 155-159
Psychology, 57, 58, 77
Pupa of insects, 64

Index

R

Rainbow trout, 96-99
Reels, 22-23

care of, 23

Refraction of light, 71
Releasing of trout, 8, 60, 113, 119
Rocky Mountains, i, 66, 98, 149,

170
Rods, 16-22

care of, 19

repairing and refinishing of, 20-

22
Rondout River, 144, 187

Tapered lines, 24
Temperature, 36
Thermometer, 36
Trichoptera, 66, 68-69
Trout, brown, 87-96

cutthroat, 104

Dolly Varden, 105

eastern brook, 102, 103

rainbow, 96-99
Trout's window, 70

U

Unger, Frank, 5

Unorthodox methods, 148, 183

Salmo clarkiiy 104

Salmo -fario, 86

Salmo irideus, 96

Salmon eggs, 134

Salmon River, 105

Salvelinus fontinalis, 102

Salvelinus spectabilis, 105

San Gabriel River, 167

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, 122

Schell, Fred, 81

Sespe River, 176

Silicone, 48

Silver Creek, 143

Slack line, how to handle, 4345

Small streams, 127-132

States fished, 7

Stone flies, 67

Sturgeon River, 77, 162

Sun Valley, Idaho, 132

Vibrations, 60, 76
Visibility, 61

W

Waders, 32-33

Wading, 60, 61

Washington, 9

Water ousel, 108

West Walker River, 169

Western and Eastern streams and

fishermen, 142
Willowemoc River, 143
Wind, 31

casting into, 42
Window of the trout, 70
Wyoming, 7, 29, 184

Talbert, Fred, 180

Yantic River, 82