LAKE FISHING 53 



clarets, black-hackles, orange bodies, hare's lugs, 

 &c. 



' They also use for trolling, artificial baits such as 

 Devon minnows, spoons, phantoms, &c. 



'When the natural fly, commonly called the 

 green drake, begins to rise in May, a regular fishing 

 carnival sets in. At this period a light handy rod, 

 usually made of two joints of well-seasoned ash, with 

 a top joint of lancewood, is generally used, sixteen 

 feet being the average length. The reel should be 

 capable of holding fifty to eighty yards of good silk 

 line, on to which is whipped some twelve to fifteen 

 yards of soft, light, and strong silk line called a blow 

 line, suitable to be carried a fair distance from the 

 bait even by a light breeze. 



' To this blow line is appended about four feet of 

 fine drawn gut and a small well-tempered hook. The 

 natural flies are collected and kept for the day in 

 small boxes or baskets. Two of these flies are im- 

 paled on a hook, and the blow line, by the action of 

 the breeze, carries the flies sufficiently far from the 

 boat, where they float or " dap " or " dip " on the sur- 

 face of the water. 



' It should be mentioned that in this particular 

 mode of fishing the boat is allowed to drift before the 

 wind. 



