ON RAPID STREAMS. on
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principle of excitement to the fisli^ of pure deception^ which he properly reh'ed on for spring fishing. The whole or main cause of his success, I say^ is in the altered style of his fishings and not in the alteration simply of his bait. Now, if instead of the artificial with a maggot attached^ any bright-coloared fly be u,sed, which will be equally conspicuous or more so and provided this fancy fly be worked in a lively manner, as it should be on a small stream, it would fully equal any fly with the maggot as regards its killing power. I state this from no I have pracJtically proved it fanciful hypothesis. on large streams, both by comparison, when both agents were used by myself, and also by trying the powers of the gaudy fancy fly in my way of using it, against many a skilful and experienced fisherman of the larger streams, with a maggot. This is practically true then, that in these rapids, on large as on small streams, in bright water, the fancy and conspicuous fly will equal the imitative fly with a maggot attached; but we must not forget that big streams, when the water begins to fail, are not divided only into rapids and still water, there is much intermediate water where fish lie to feed neither still nor can it be said to be rapid. It is too shallow and too bright for the artificial fly used however skilfully as an imitation of the natural fly at any particular time the trout may be taking ; it is not rapid enough for the fancy fly, which in such a place would be so long exposed, that it would scare the fish ; but actiiig
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and no longer on that
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