56 FOR FLIES COLOUR, NOT FORM. [PART I. 



the Avon near Cot in Devonshire. I had up as 

 a bob a small greyish-brown palmer made by one 

 Godden at Whitchurch in Hampshire, and finding 

 that the Trout evinced a decided preference for 

 this, I put up another as a stretcher, tied by him at 

 the same time and to the same pattern, and, so far 

 as I could see, exactly similar to it. They would 

 not however look at this one, but continued tak- 

 ing the other freely, even after it was chewed to 

 ribbons the hackle unwound, and hanging an inch 

 below the hook until at last, in consequence of 

 the silk following its example, I was obliged to 

 discard the fly altogether. I replaced it with 

 another of the same lot, but the great attraction 

 was gone. Besides proving their penchant for a 

 particular shade of colour and their indifference 

 to mere form, this incident also shews the great 

 nicety of sight possessed by Trout. On this oc- 

 casion, out of two and a half dozen which I 

 caught whilst I had these palmers up, at least 

 two dozen and two fell to the share of the 

 favourite bob. 



If the old rule of "alight fly for darkness 

 and a dark fly for lightness " be ever at all correct, 

 I think it can only be applicable to night-fishing, 

 as I have certainly more frequently found the 



