234 Wet- Fly Fishing 



this be done, the result will not be found 

 disappointing, provided, of course, that the 

 lure is presented to the trout with skill, 

 and that the angler possesses " watercraft," 

 a most essential element in the making-up 

 of any wet-fly fisherman. 



Having named the " hackled " fly which, 

 I think on the whole, probably deserves 

 the topmost place, I will now name its 

 formidable rival, which is much better 

 known and more frequently used in Scot- 

 land. I mean the black Spider of Stewart's 

 book, and which that most famous fisher of 

 Scottish " Waters " thus describes. 



" The Black spider." 



" This is made from the small neck 

 feather of the cock starling, dressed with 

 brown silk;" and, he adds, "it is, upon 

 the whole, the most killing imitation we 

 know." 



Pritt's "Dark Snipe and Purple" is 

 another fly of similar characteristics. 



And here I would point out the sig- 

 nificance of the fact that, the last-named 

 are, all of them, dark flies ; and, that each 

 of them is more or less famous. How far 

 the trout are able to choose between these 

 flies, especially when they are used under 

 water, as wet flies are, who can say ? 



