348 TROUT FISHING. 



the first, if not the very first, to use the fly ou Long Island 

 waters, took between forty and fifty good fish in this pond before 

 dinner, and in the afternoon basketed above a dozen of yet 

 larger size in the stream below. 



" This feat, the like of which will not, I fear, be soon heard 

 of again, was performed with a fly, the body of which was com- 

 posed of hare's-ear fur, and the hackle of a woodcock's wings, — 

 a very killing fly, be it observed, for all waters, especially early 

 in the season. 



" On the same stream with Carman's pond, and at but a short 

 distance above it, is another called Middle Island Pond, with a 

 saw and flour-mill at the outlet, which contains a great number of 

 fish, of very large and very uniform size, running from one and 

 a half to two pounds weight. It is remarkable, however, that 

 the Trout in the lower pond being esteemed the best, those in 

 the upper should be the worst of any taken on the south side of 

 the island. Such, notwithstanding, is the case ; they are long, 

 shallow, ill-fed fish, dingy-coloui'ed, and woody -flavoured. They 

 are not, however, black-mouthed, as are the fish of a pond which 

 I shall have occasion to mention hereafter. 



" I remember that a fact of the same sort is recorded of two 

 lakes, I think in the north of Ireland, connected by a short 

 stream running through a bog meadow. In the upper of these 

 lakes the fish, as here, are worthless, — in the lower superlative ; 

 and they are never known to intermingle. How this should 

 be, cannot well be explained ; for, granting that the excellence 

 of the fish arises from the soil and food, and that the inferior 

 fish improves on coming to the superior water, still there must 

 be a transition state. 



