The Dry Fly Fast Water - Fishing with the Floating Fly on American Trout Streams, Together with Some Observations on Fly Fishing in General , livre ebook

Read Books Ltd. - George M. L. La Branche

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57 pages

English

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Originally published in 1914, “The Dry Fly and Fast Water” is a complete guide to fly fishing, with simple instructions and helpful tips from a life-long fly fisher. A charming handbook interwoven with personal anecdotes and expert insights, this vintage book will be of considerable value to both beginner and seasoned fisher alike, and it is not to be missed by collectors. Contents include: “Early Experiences”, “The Value of Observation”, “The Rise”, “Where and When to Fish”, “The Imitation of the Natural Insect”, “Some Fancies—Some Facts”, “The Point of View”, “A Few Patterns of Flies”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on the history of fishing.

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Histoire du sport

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Publié par	Read Books Ltd.
Date de parution	03 décembre 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781447482222
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER
THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER
FISHING WITH THE FLOATING FLY ON AMERICAN TROUT STREAMS, TOGETHER WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON FLY FISHING IN GENERAL
BY
GEORGE M. L. LA BRANCHE

1914
PREFACE
To expound a theory into willing ears upon a trout stream is one thing; to put those same ideas into writing so that they may be intelligently conveyed to one who reads them is quite a different thing. Of this I am convinced. However this may be, my readiness to do the one induced in some of my angling friends the belief that I could do the other. They insisted that I try-and this book is the result. My experience in preparing these pages has filled me with the profoundest respect for those persons who may be truthfully characterised as authors. I began the work with a good deal of timidity, and, as it now appears to me, considerable temerity. After completing the task to the best of my ability I submitted the manuscript to some of my credulous friends. Strange to say, after reading it, even then they insisted that I publish it. By this decision it seems to me they proved two things-their friendship for me and their absolute unfitness to be literary critics. Even so, under their instruction and guidance, the book is presented to the angling public with the hope that it may find some small favour among them.
G. M. L. L.
May, 1914.
CONTENTS
I. E ARLY E XPERIENCES
II. T HE V ALUE OF O BSERVATION
III. T HE R ISE
IV. W HERE AND W HEN TO F ISH
V. T HE I MITATION OF THE N ATURAL I NSECT
VI. S OME F ANCIES -S OME F ACTS
VII. T HE P OINT OF V IEW
VIII. A F EW P ATTERNS OF F LIES
THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER
THE DRY FLY AND FAST WATER
CHAPTER I
EARLY EXPERIENCES
F ROM my earliest boyhood I have been devoted to the fly fisher s art, having been inducted into it by my father, who was an ardent angler before me. For more than twenty years I have fished the near-by streams of New York and Pennsylvania; not a season has passed without having brought to me the pleasure of casting a fly over their waters. Each recurring year I find myself, as the season approaches, eagerly looking forward to the bright days when I can again go upon the streams. In the early days of the season, however, I am content to overhaul my gear, to dream alone, or talk with others about the active days to come; for I have never enjoyed going upon the waters so long as the air still holds chill winter s bite.
During the early years of my angling I fished my flies wet or sunk. Such was the manner universally prevailing upon our streams and the manner of my teaching. I had read about the dry fly and knew that its use was general in England, which country may justly be said to be its place of origin. That this is true may not be gainsaid, yet it seems to me remarkable that with all the reputed ingenuity of Americans the present development of dry fly fishing for trout should be almost entirely the work of British sportsmen. That the use of the dry fly on streams in this country has not been more common may be due to a pardonable disinclination upon the part of expert wet fly anglers to admit the weakness of their method under conditions as they now exist. Their method has served them well, as it did their fathers before them, and perhaps they are loath to surrender it for something new. In the earlier days trout were much more abundant in our streams, and the men who fished the streams and wrote upon the subject of fly fishing in this country may have felt that a knowledge of the habits and haunts of the fish was more essential to success in taking them than the employment of any particular method. The merits of up-stream over down-stream fishing caused some discussion among anglers, and some of these discussions found permanent place in angling literature. The discussion, however, seems always to have been confined to the question of position and seems never to have been extended to the manner of fishing the flies. Individual characteristics or experiences led some to advocate a certain manner of manipulating the dropper-fly and others to recommend the sinking of the tail-fly to a greater depth; but the flies seem always to have been manipulated upon the theory that to be effective they must be constantly in motion. It seems to have been conceded by all that the flies should be always under the control and subject to the direction of the rod, thus enabling the angler to simulate living insects by twitching them over or under the surface of the water-a practice that is the exact opposite of the method of the dry fly fisher, who casts a single fly lightly upon the surface of the water and permits it to float with the current over or near the spot where he knows or believes a fish to lie.
Many expert wet fly anglers in this country have been using the floating fly for years, but most of them use it only on water where they consider it may prove more effective than the wet fly-usually upon the quiet surface of a pool or on flat, slow water. Contrary to the prevailing notion, however, the floating fly is not a whit more deadly on water of this character than the wet fly, when the latter is properly fished. The difficulty in taking trout on such water may be ascribed to two causes: (1) When the water is low and clear, or where it has little motion and the surface is unruffled, the fish is likely to perceive the activities of the angler at a greater distance than is possible in rougher water, and is thus sooner warned of his approach. (2) When the angler has been careful to conceal himself from the fish, the fly cast in the usual wet fly manner is likely to be refused because of its unnatural action, the wake made by dragging the flies across the smooth surface being sufficient at times to deter even small fish from becoming interested in it. The floating fly is far more effective than the wet, jerky fly, because, as no motion is imparted to it, it is more lifelike in appearance. When such a fly, properly presented, is refused such refusal may be due as much to a disinclination upon the part of the fish to feed as to his suspicion having been aroused. The wet fly fished sunk , with no more motion given to it than is given to the floating one (a single fly being used in each case), will prove quite as deadly as the latter on smooth water; and where many casts with the dry fly may be necessary to induce a rise, the sunk fly may appeal upon the first or second attempt, because its taking demands of the fish no particular exertion. The effort of the angler to impart a lifelike motion to the wet fly upon the surface will often be quite enough in itself to defeat his purpose. Such effort should never be made on clear, glassy water, for, while it may occasionally be successful, unseen fish are put down.
For many years I was one of those who firmly believed that only the smooth, slow stretches of a stream could be fished successfully with the dry fly. Experience, however, has taught me that the floater, skilfully handled, is applicable to any part of a swift stream short of a perpendicular waterfall. My unorthodox method of using it-which may be described as creating a whole family of flies instead of imitating an individual member thereof-may be characterised by some as hammering or flogging, and condemned as tending to make fish shy because the leader is shown so often. My answer to this is that if the blows struck by the fly are light no harm is done. And, furthermore, if showing gut to the fish really tends to make them more wary, the sport of taking them, in my estimation, is pushed up a peg.
It is not my purpose to contend that the dry fly is more effective than the wet fly, although I do believe that, under certain conditions, the dry fly will take fish that may not be taken in any other manner. I do contend, however, that a greater fascination attends its use. All game birds are pursued with the same weapon, but the more difficult birds to kill have the greater attraction for sportsmen; and my predilection for the dry fly is based on the same principle.
My first dry fly was cast over the Junction Pool-the meeting of the waters of the Willowemoc and the Mongaup-about fifteen years ago, and the fact that I cast it at all was due more to the exigency of the occasion than to any predevised plan for attempting the feat. Every day in the late afternoon or evening I noted four or five fish rising in the pool formed by these two streams, and repeated attempts upon my part to take one of them by the old method absolutely failed me, although I put forth diligent efforts. The desire to take one of these fish became an obsession, and their constant rising to everything but my flies exasperated me to the point of wishing that I might bring myself to the use of dynamite.
One evening in looking through my fly book I found in one of the pockets a clipping from the Fishing Gazette , which I had placed there during the preceding winter. If my memory serves me, I think this article was entitled Casting to Rising Fish. At any rate, the caption was such that it caught my eye, as it seemed to suggest the remedy for which I was searching. The article proved to be an account of the experience of an angler who used the dry fly for trout, and his exposition of the manner of using it seemed so clear that I determined to try it myself upon the pool over the rising fish in the late afternoon. Barring my inability to execute properly the things the author described and that I was called upon to do, the only stumbling-block in my way was the impossibility of my obtaining an artificial fly that resembled the insects upon which the trout were feeding, and the author laid a great deal of stress upon the necessity of using such an imitation. I remember that, in a measure, I was mildly glad of this, because I felt that I would have an excuse for failure if I were unsuccessful. I doctored some wet flies into what I thought to be a fair imitation of the dry f