The following day was a Day of Rest, and as this idea was after all but surmise, nothing was said to the two local fishermen, but the results of the next evening’s fishing were awaited with considerable interest.
Conditions on the Monday proved to be very similar to those prevailing on the Saturday, and the results of the day justified the surmise, that the fish under the willows were feeding on such insects as hovered above them, every now and then to touch the water, while those out in mid-stream had no Silverhorns available and so confined their attention to the spent spinners, smuts and other flies, which were brought to them by the current.
If the solution of the problem that presented itself on that first evening be correct, then the killing power of a fly is often dependent on its being fished with due regard to the haunts of the natural insect it is supposed to imitate. What a field is here for investigation, and yet the matter is one upon which no hard and fast rules can be made. Prevailing conditions must be studied carefully. A cross-wind might obviously entirely alter the local conditions, and one would not look in such circumstances for flies in their usual haunts. On windy days the observant angler would probably find that the menu of the fish on the side from which the wind was blowing would include many Diptera or other land-bred insects, while the fish on the lee shore, would most likely be feeding principally on such insects of aquatic origin as happened to be hatching out at the time.
The foregoing merely serves to illustrate a few of the many considerations involved in this absorbing sport; and in following up these problems many side issues of equal importance will be opened up.
If the beginner is dogged by disappointment and failure (and who can feel the utter bitterness of disappointment more than a fisherman?), let him be advised to take heart of grace and not to blame the lowness of the water, the brightness of the day, thunder or any of the elements, for his lack of sport, but to say to himself, “What have I left undone that should have been done? Where have I failed?” For trout, like human beings, take their daily bread; and it is up to the angler to find out when and where and in what shape. If the beginner will therefore reason out the causes of failure instead of making excuses for it, he will be more likely then and on future occasions to remedy his mistakes and to know the satisfaction of killing fish on a really difficult day.
Dry-Fly Fishing.
Next to be considered are the dry fly and its use on the North Country Rivers; but the novice is strongly urged, before ever he seeks to master this branch of angling, to get a good grip of the wet-fly method.
From the term “North Country Rivers” are naturally excluded such rivers as the Costa, which is probably the nearest approach in the North to the Chalk streams of Hampshire, the home of the dry fly. On that particular river the dry fly would probably on most occasions take the premier position, whereas on the rougher and more rapid streams, such as the Wharfe, Ribble, Lune, etc., the position is reversed.
Not many years ago one very seldom came across anyone further North than Derbyshire fishing the dry fly, but slowly and surely has the method become more and more popular; for it is only by the judicious combination of the two methods of fly fishing that the best results and the greatest pleasure can, in the judgment of the writers, be obtained. But chacun à son goût, and far be it from them to legislate for any sportsmen who wish or agree to keep their waters exclusively for any one method of fishing.