Show V Gg B 6 JIM RHODY Easy Does It Successful fly fishing in summer or at any other season begins with witha a leisurely study or reading reading reading read ing of the stream which should tell the fisherman something about where trout are arc lying what they may be doing at the moment and what they are taking in hi the way of ot food Sometimes it is possible to get the answers to all these questions at a glance At other times only a astray astray stray tray clue here and there indicates the general type of fly to be used and the method of fishing it For all practical fishing purposes a trouts trout's life may be divided into three activities resting activities resting eating and spawning When resting a trout lies in n quiet rest rest conducive conducive water and andis ands is s reluctant to move When eating he ae moves into water that produces food and strikes readily at moving objects which have the appearance of food At spawning time he seeks still another kind of water and pays little attention to food although other species may follow along to feast on op obi the eggs which are deposited deposited deposited de de- de- de posited in the gravel on the bottom I of the stream Fly fishermen have scant fun with spawning trout or with their camp followers Looks for Signs Upon reaching a stream an experienced experienced experienced ex ex- ex- ex angler looks for signs of working trout He looks closely inthe inthe in inthe the riffles in the slick currents currents' above and below the riffles in the tail-end tail of pools and in water close under the banks If It trout are feeding on the surface they are easily seen because they break the water and often Jump clear out of the water If It they are feeding deep it is not so easy to see them because the refraction refraction refraction re re- re- re fraction of light in the riffle and on the surface conceals activity on the bottom But even when trout are feeding deep a patient angler can spot them His trained eyes catch the momentary flash of a trouts trout's side as it turns against the current tail fin breaking breaking breaking break break- or they may pick up a ing the surface A pair of polaroid glasses helps cut through the surface surface sur- sur face ace glare It is of course obvious that deep- deep feeding fish will respond best to deep fished deep flies meso Tailing those fish fish those which expose a tail fin as they stand standon on their head to take food food are are nosing nosing nosing nos nos- ing ing the bottom for nymphs or feeding feeding feeding feed feed- ing on those which have broken loose and are swimming toward the surface Surface feeding fish are gorging on hatches of new summer flies emerging from the water or oron oron oron on old flies which are laying their eggs on the surface of the water Trout lying lazily in deep still pools rarely bite on flies or anything anything anything any any- thing else These pools are usually resting places Trout seen there are probably well fed and torpid They move out to more productive waters when their hunger is aroused Observes Conditions The successful fly fisherman observes observes observes ob ob- ob- ob serves all these natural conditions before he starts fishing He fishes his flies where fish are working at atthe atthe atthe the moment and selects his flies to imitate the appearance of the insects which currently attract the trout By this manner of fishing the theny fly ny he approximates the natural action of the insect itself For deep feeding deep feeding trout a fisherman's fishermans fishermans fisherman's fishermans fisherman's fisher fisher- mans man's most successful fly will often be one of the hair flies flics tied to imitate imitate imitate imi imi- tate caddis fly caddis fly larvae rock worms stone fly larvae or other such creatures which spend their youth on the bottom of the stream For the midsection midsection between between bottom bottom bottom bot bot- tom and surface surface best best patterns are flies like the grey hackle the nymphs and the bodied urn wing single-wing flies meso On the top deck top deck on the surface or just dust beneath it best it-best best patterns are the wing divided-wing flies flics The flies in each of these classifications classifications call for a fishing of their own The hair flies commonly work best when fished close to the bottom It may take a split shot to put them there The nymphs and hackles bring results when fished from bottom to surface The divided di divided divided di- di vided wing wet flies are fished just under the surface Dry flies of course coUse are fished dry floating on the surface and in no other way as explained in a subsequent article The simplest way to fish ish a wet fly is to cast across the stream allowing allowing allowing allow allow- ing the current to catch the fly and swing it down and back across to the near side While this is the simplest simplest simplest sim sim- way it is not always the best way but on fairly large streams such as the Rio Grande the Gunnison Gunnison Gunni- Gunni son and others of like size it is just as good as any other For smaller streams the angler will do better if he lie fishes his fly directly up stream allowing the current to bring the fly down toward him A 0 i iFor A A For The Beginner Except in unusual circumstances the beginning fly fisherman should always use two flies flics tied with short gut loops and with about a n seven and one half foot leader One of ot these flies the bottom one one is called the terminal fly the other the dropper The dropper fly is attached to the top dropper loop A cast of two flies is suggested to the beginner because trout sometimes sometimes some- some times tunes reluctant to hit a single fly will strike when two are offered |