200 SALMON AND TROUT. 



it is my belief he will take a fly of any pattern when he is in the 

 humour, provided it is of a proper size. Size has more to do 

 with success than all the patterns of flies ever invented. Even 

 if a fly is of the right colour too * big ' a salmon will not take 

 it. He may rise at it, and probably get ' rugged ' and will then 

 be seen no more. The choice of a fly of suitable size is a very 

 important matter, but I will allude to this hereafter. 



I now come to the question of certain shades and colours 

 being more suitable than others upon certain days. I have 

 no doubt a salmon will occasionally prefer a fly of a certain 

 colour to any other, although I do not admit he would 

 refuse to take a fly of another colour, when he is in the 

 humour, if it were offered to him. I remember upon one occa- 

 sion watching a cross-line at work upon the Blackwater, when 

 I noticed one fly take fish after fish, all the others, eleven in 

 number, failing to rise one. I cannot think this was accidental ; 

 probably the appearance of the fly, under a peculiar condition 

 of light, was the attraction. Whether the fish would have 

 taken any of the other flies if that particular pattern had not 

 been upon the cross-line I cannot say, but I am inclined to 

 think, from what I know of their habits, they would have 

 done so. 



If it is taken for granted that a salmon prefers a fly of one 

 colour to another upon certain days, the difficulty is to find out 

 the right colour, and I think a great deal of time would be wasted 

 in the endeavour to do so. All we can do is to select the fly we 

 fancy will take, and if it is of the right size, and if any fish are 

 on the move, we are not often disappointed. There are certain 

 facts, however, which, to a certain extent, may guide us in the 

 choice of a fly. I have tried the experiment of holding up flies 

 of different colours against the sky, putting myself in the posi- 

 tion a salmon would occupy with regard to each fly as it was held 

 up. The result was that, with a bright blue sky as a background, 

 I could see every colour fairly well, with the exception of light 

 blue and a jay hackle, which I could not distinguish. With an 

 overcast sky as a background, and a clear atmosphere, I could 



