58 A GEE AT QUESTION ANSWERED. 



of the May-fly, and therefore such imitation will 

 kill when a nondescript, or a fly as unlike as pos- 

 sible the March-brown, will not. Practical anglers 

 know this so well, that when the March-brown is 

 on the waters, they fish with three imitations of 

 it of different sizes attached to their foot-line at 

 one and the same time. I have known a good 

 imitation of the March-brown thrown upon the 

 water amongst the live insects and eagerly taken, 

 I may say in preference to the natural fly. Did 

 the fish confound it with the natural fly, or rise 

 at it because it was a nondescript ? That is the 

 question. I answer without hesitation, they con- 

 founded the artificial with the natural fly. At the 

 same time, I maintain that if fish did not in 

 general make the mistake of confounding the 

 artificial with the natural fly, the fly -fisher's art 

 would be a bungle from beginning to end, and 

 should be called a comedy of errors, rather than 

 an art. Of the March-brown, Mr. Bainbridge in 

 his ' Fly-Fisher's Gruide ,' and Christopher North 

 pronounces that gentleman to have been one of 

 the most accomplished anglers that ever crossed 

 the Tweed, says : 6 This very excellent fly very 

 generally appears about the middle of March, and 

 is strongly recommended as a good killer from 

 eleven until three o'clock. Large numbers of 

 these beautiful insects sail down the streams in 

 succession, and invite the trout to action. Their 



