Fred G. Shaw

The Science of Dry Fly Fishing Fred G. Shaw

The dry-fly angler, more than all others, must use consummate art in his craft. Everything about the method calls for delicacy, skill, and understanding. In dry-fly fishing the angler definitely experiences more interesting problems than are ever present in any other method of angling. Bill Michael is one of the most enthusiastic and devoted dry-fly fishermen I have ever known. He is also a polished performer, handling his rod skillfully and using excellent technique in his general fishing. Once, many years ago, I fished with him on the upper reaches of the Owens River, at Arcularius Ranch in California. It was my first time there, and because I believe that you can learn to know unfamiliar waters more quickly by watching an angler experienced at fishing them than by starting off blindly on your own, I spent two full days observing him perform. Thus, when I say that he knows his dry-fly fishing I am not guessing about it. I am simply stating what I know to be a fact. In his book Bill Michael has collected the high points from his many years of experience and has written about them in a style that will delight the reader. Informative as well as en- tertaining, Dry-Fly Trout Fishing is a book for both the novice and the experienced fisherman. It will occupy an honored place in my library. RAY BERGMAN Angling Editor, Outdoor Life ALTHOUGH the dry fly has been in use, and growing more and more popular, in the United States since before 1900, there are still a great many sportsmen who for one reason or another have never had the good fortune to take it up. This is particularly true in the West-in the Rockies, on the Pacific watershed, and on the streams of the Far Western mountains. I was even taken to task once by some local Montana fishermen for trying to catch trout by such an outlandish procedure as a dry fly. They told me, You cant get fish on this stream, mister, by whipping that fly through the air. The fish are in the river, you know. They didnt know how wrong they were, and they didnt know how much fun and how many fish they were missing. I deeply feel that the wet-fly fisherman is losing one of the greatest joys of fishing, if, when weather conditions are suitable, he does not try this most fascinating sport-fishing for trout with a dry fly. In writing this book I have tried to aim first at the beginner rather than the finished dry-fly expert. Yet even the experienced dry-fly fisherman shouId find a good deal here that is of value to him. One of the beauties of this sport that keeps fishermen coming back to it year after year is, it seems to me, that there is always more to learn...