MEMO from the publisher

An enduring honor to the bonefish is its loyal opposition, a cult of expert salt-water anglers who hold it second to none as a challenge to their skill. Its latest honor is to serve as namesake for a U.S. submarine. Before the newest addition to our submarine fleet was delivered to the Navy, Lieutenant Commander E. H. Kiehl wrote SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: "It was with pleasure that I read the article about the bonefish in the Feb. 2, 1959 issue. A commanding officer rarely has the privilege of reading of his ship's namesake in a national magazine.

"The purpose of this letter is to ask for a print, suitable for framing, of the illustration that appeared on pages 56 and 57. It would be given a place of honor aboard the U.S.S. Bonefish."

With even greater pleasure, Artist Jack Kunz and SPORTS ILLUSTRATED had the privilege of presenting to Commander Kiehl, at delivery ceremonies at the Philadelphia Navy Yard this month, Kunz's original painting. "It will be a constant challenge to Bonefish," said her skipper, "to live up to the fighting reputation of a fighting fish."

If the bonefish is one of the finest challenges to the salt-water angler (and to certain submariners), it is also a rewarding one to cooks. Next week's article on food tells how to meet it.

But the classic fresh-water challenge is the trout, which more and more fishermen are taking with the wet fly. As millions of anglers prepare again for the stream, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED next week begins a three-part series on The Art of Fishing with the Wet Fly.

An acknowledged master of the art was the late James Leisenring. Vernon S. Hidy, author of the series, came to know that mastery well, learning his lessons at Leisenring's side. Collaborating with Editor Coles Phinizy, Champion Caster Johnny Dieckman and Artist Anthony Ravielli, Hidy in Part I covers the fundamentals of casting and tackle. Following issues take up Leisenring's stream strategy and the tools and methods he used to tie his flies.

The series constitutes a course of instruction that is clear to the novice and refreshing to the expert. As for the authority of its source, Hidy writes: "The only critics Leisenring respected were the trout; the judges whose opinions he valued most were the leaping rainbows and the sullen browns fighting downstream, hook in jaw."

PHOTO

KIEHL AND KUNZ