ON ANGLING. 125 



bottom, reflected from the fly's under surface. But size 

 is very important, and so is form. In these respects your 

 imitation cannot be too exact, and yet the variation 

 in nature is not so wide that a very large number 

 of patterns is required to cover it. Of course, the gigantic 

 May fly is an insect apart. I have no love for him. He 

 spoils the rivers on which he abounds, creating a mad orgy 

 of surface feeding, which is the duffer's holiday. And when 

 that orgy is done the fish will usually not trouble to come up 

 for any smaller fly for a long while. I grant you the May 

 fly brings big fish up to the surface to feed which probably, 

 but for him, would never be surface feeders at all ; but I 

 can make you no more grants in his favour. That is my last 

 concession. For the rest, the duns do not vary greatly in 

 size, nor in form either for the matter of that. The blue 

 Winged Olive, I suppose, is the largest of those which you 

 are likely to use, and with a series descending from that to 

 a small Ginger Quill or Red Quill yon should be well equipped. 

 And you must have a similar series of spent flies to imitate 

 the moribund people that go floating down with wings flatly 

 outstretched, having completed their life's cycle. I almost 

 think it is more useful to tell you what you are to avoid in 

 the way of flies than what you are to fit yourself out with. 

 Terrestrially, the present is an age of advertisement, therefore 

 we are rather apt to think that a fly which advertises itself 

 by a great appearance on the water is likely to attract the 

 fish. But the blessed uses of advertisement do not seem to 

 be appreciated by the sub-aqueous people. We are educating 

 our trout, but not thus far. Avoid, therefore, those flies 

 which will often be offered to you in the shops, that advertise 

 themselves by an immense bushiness of hackle. It is not 

 thus that the very delicate and finely limbed duns present 

 themselves to the trout's vision. There are a few big and 

 bushy flies which you may need, such as the Caperer, Welsh- 

 man's Button, Alder and Sedges — these last in different sizes 

 for evening fishing. If you fall short of Caperer when the 

 fish are taking them, and put any one of these others of 

 nearly the right size over the fish neatly, he is not very likely 

 to decline it. But the duns are very finely spun, and so are 

 all the spent flies. Their imitations should not be made with 



