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Fly Fishing

On South Country chalk streams, I think that by the use of the nymph in the daytime during the months of July and August you can reach the peak of the fascinating sport of trout fishing. At this time it calls for the highest skill of both the wet and dry-fly fisherman, and to them the nymph fisher brings every wile at his command into the true art of deception.

I often read in old books of the great bags of trout taken by such anglers as the Rev. Durnford and Colonel Hawker when fishing the chalk streams with wet flies, but I feel sure that both these great fishermen, and many others of their time, would have enjoyed far more sport in catching less fish had they known of the art of trout fishing as practised to-day.

In the spirit of Francis Francis:

No murderous wand
Would I command,
That slaughters but for slaughtering's sake
But win by skill
Enough to fill
The wants that Nature's self doth make.

To my mind, the great joy in trout fishing comes with the knowledge that you have deceived a trout into taking an imitation of the natural insect on which it happens to be feeding. If the fisherman is a fly-tier there is added pleasure, for in the occupation of making an artificial, he will be filled with the anticipation of seeing his creation accepted by a trout in mistake for the insect he has been at such pains to copy. In imagination he will be by the riverside, see the trout moving without suspicion towards the hook his nimble fingers have so artfully concealed, see the mouth of his fish open and close, and in advance get the thrill as, in his mind, he lifts the rod to drive home the hook.

An artificial nymph can be used with deadly effect throughout the trout season, but I think it is only during the months of July and August that it can give the fisherman the highest degree of sport, and the knowledge that he is accomplishing something beyond the powers of the ordinary wet or dry-fly enthusiast. During these two months the water of our chalk streams is usually at its clearest. There are days of sun blazing from cloudless skies, when not a breath of air disturbs the surface of the river; when it is possible for the angler to see every movement of a trout in the water, and, conversely, for the trout to see every movement of the angler, unless he uses the greatest caution in approach. Truly these are the days when the utmost enjoyment of nymph fishing can be obtained, for trout already have had a severe hammering with the dry-fly and most of them have a good knowledge of the fisherman and wiles.

At this time the wild trout of a river are really wild; the brilliant sunshine and unruffled, gin-clear water, gives them the opportunity to see every artifice the fisherman may present. Though a few flies hatch daily from the river, the clear dry atmosphere allows them to change quickly from nymph to dun; they leave the water almost immediately, and seldom give trout the chance to rise and take them from the surface. Yet trout are lying up in the water and are feeding; and a feeding trout can be caught if he is offered a good representation of the food he is taking. It is quite obvious that he is not feeding on surface borne food, so it must be on something under water.

A very long experience has left me astonished at the failure of fishermen to take the trouble to learn what flies may be expected on the water throughout the fishing months. Some do not even know that duns change into spinners, and cannot tell the difference between one and the other, even when held in the hand. I have encountered anglers who do not know that most of the river flies spend most of their life under water and that fish take them in various stages of their existence.

I think the late Mr. G. E. M. Skues, whom I met once or twice towards the end of his life, got the greatest joy in fishing, from the practice of deception, at which, indeed, he was a master. He spent years studying the various insects and in learning from others all he could about them. He tied flies beautifully, and he had an immense collection of them. They were made with the most careful attention to detail, of size, colour and general appearance, and he had great success with them. He was a man who understood something of the trout's angle of view. He paid great attention to the body of the fly, and his pattern was not encumbered by overmuch hackle. When fishing he would take a fly off the water - a fly he had reason to think the fish were taking - study it thoroughly, and then search through his fly boxes for the most exact imitation. I believe that in fifty years he had hardly ever thrown a fly over a fish, which he had not tied himself. In this, I am sure, consisted a large part of his enjoyment.

Mr. Skues understood the art of nymph fishing, and in his excellent book Nymph Fishing for Chalk Stream Trout, he tried to pass on his knowledge of this fascinating sport to others. He knew where to look for a fish and, what is more, he knew what the trout expected to see. And here is the true art of deception. It is in knowing that a fish is expecting to see a certain insect in a certain area, and in being able to place an artificial at this point without raising suspicion; it is in having a clear view of a feeding fish so that you can study its reactions to what you offer it. Times without number I have been amused to see a trout discover the deceit, to watch the fish move boldly towards my artificial, then sheer away at the last moment and bolt for cover. I then know I must make something better and I get joy in doing so.

The great thing is to offer the fish something he is expecting to see. If he is rising and taking surface flies, then he should be tempted with a dry-fly; if he is nymphing, then he should be offered a nymph. But with the dry-fly you have an advantage, for it is possible to see the natural insects floating on the water and to get some idea as to which kind the trout are taking. It is not difficult to tell the difference between such flies, as, say, the Blue Winged Olive and the Lesser Spurwing, and to be able to determine a black midge from an Olive. Yet a trout may be taking one or other of these beneath the surface in their larval or nymphal form and there is little to tell he is doing so.

This is where a slight knowledge of entomology can be of assistance to the angler, for if he is familiar with the habits and appearance of these insects underwater he then stands a much better chance not only of presenting the right fly at the right time, but of presenting it in a manner that is life-like. Though a good copy of an insect is essential, this is not always enough, one should know what the trout expect this insect to do, and be able to show it to them in this light.

I once made some copies of the B.W.O., and, when comparing them under the microscope with the natural insect in water and looking at the body, had difficulty in telling the two apart. I was exceedingly pleased with my efforts and, as Blue Winged Olives were then hatching, I tried them on the trout. I had tied them so that they had a good entry into the water and, on being presented, they immediately sank towards the bottom. Though two fish made a move towards one of the nymphs, six or seven more totally disregarded them. I failed to get a fish to take any I had made. I could not quite understand it, for I had often deceived trout with Iron Blue and Olive patterns fished in a similar manner.

Then it occurred to me that the Blue Winged Olive swims to the surface in a jerky, undulating movement; that, once it has risen to hatch, it seldom returns to the bottom but often stays wriggling in the surface film for a few moments before hatching to a fly. Good as my artificials had seemed to me they had not deceived the trout. These fish knew there was something wrong in my presentation. I then also knew what it was and went home to make other patterns. The trout wanted something which showed life near the surface of the water. They should have it.

I used exactly the same materials for a body as I had for the previous patterns, but instead of adding a few turns of fine copper wire to the hook to make it heavy, I dressed my new copies as though I were making a dry-fly. My rejected patterns had been finished with a soft hen hackle at the head, but these new ones I dressed with a cock hackle and then cut off the fibres so that they stood out rigid from the thorax. My one idea was to make an imitation that would sink just through the surface film, and appear to the trout as though it had spread its legs and tails in an effort to hold itself up in the water. My finished efforts pleased me.

When cast lightly, like a dry-fly, the artificials did as I wanted, and sank just beneath the surface; and, in sinking, the stiff cock hackles, spread one from another with the action of the water and appeared like the moving legs and tails of the nymph I had copied. Six trout took my offerings. I could have hooked them all, but I did not want to. I had sufficient pleasure in deceiving them.

I have said I could have hooked them had I wished, for if you are to catch fish with an artificial nymph the hook must be driven home by the angler - it is very unusual for a trout to hook himself.