236 Wet- Fly Fishing 



instead of a " rise," is what the fly-fisher- 

 man looks out for and receives. 



During the first week of May, in 1877, 

 I was busily fishing " the Tummel," with 

 frost and snow all round me, and I experi- 

 enced this in a very notable degree. 



Curiously, even now, I remember that 

 my best fly was one I dressed with the 

 neck hackle-feather of the cock starling, 

 but with the addition of a mere dot of 

 " peacock herl," placed immediately under 

 the hackle itself. I presume that it gives 

 additional lustre to this imitation, and so 

 attracts the trout, especially in cold dark 

 days, when he is not inclined to show his 

 nose on the surface of the water. 



For the fishing of " waters," Hackled 

 flies (spiders) are proverbally valuable. But 

 they fill a very useful place, at times, in the 

 fishing of larger rivers. 



