64 FLY TAILED WITH " GENTLE." [PART I. 



line and five or six diminutive flies also tied on 

 hair, and where I was told it would be lost la- 

 bour to try gut. I was rather sceptical on the 

 point, and tried fine gut, but soon had' to resign 

 it in favour of hair, when I found an immediate 

 and striking difference. Where the water is clear, 

 it may, I am persuaded, be often used to great 

 advantage. It is somewhat troublesome to fish 

 with, inasmuch as it requires great care in its use ; 

 for, if you get hung up slightly, and clear your- 

 self without a breakage or apparent mischief, yet 

 perhaps the hair will start at a knot in conse- 

 quence of the strain and come asunder a minute 

 or two afterwards at the slightest touch. It is 

 however astonishing, if the pull be a steady one, 

 how much it will bear. 



When the water is very clear and bright, 

 Trout will sometimes take the fly freely if tailed 

 with a gentle, while they will not touch it with- 

 out. A friend of mine, then residing at Geneva, 

 and one of the best fishermen I ever knew, who 

 used to catch a good many Trout in the neigh- 

 bouring streams, considered it useless to go out 

 when the water was in that state, unless he was 

 provided with a supply of "fruit," as he called 

 them. No one would probably take advantage of 



