GRAYLING FISHING. 



141 



Grasshopper-Fishing. 

 The lure known by the name of the artificial grass- 

 hopper, is really a rough imitation of a caterpillar, and 

 not of a grasshopper. The best are imitations made as 

 follows. Whip a strand of fine stained gut on to a No. 10 

 or No. 1 1 hook ;^ making the silk lapping extend as far 

 as the bend of the hook. Take a lightish lead, bored, 

 of about an inch in length ; cut it down at one end to 

 the length of the lapping (about three-quarters of an 

 inch), taper it off at the thick end a little with a knife, 

 and then run it over the shank of the hook, with the 

 heaviest end towards the bend of the hook : pinch it so 

 as to fix \t firmly in its place ; and make a few transverse 

 " nicks" with the knife to cause the dubbing to stay on : 



Fig. I. 



Fig. 2. 



then lap the lead all over with light 

 green worsted ; and make a few turns 

 over this body with yellow silk, waxed 

 with colourless wax. It is an im- 

 provement to the appearance of the 

 grasshopper to run a narrow slip of 

 straw down each side of the body 

 under the yellow ribbing. 



The form of the grasshopper is 

 shown in the engraving (figure i). Grasshopper. 

 It should be baited for use with three or four large 



Float. 



* If a No. 1 1 hook is used, which is on the whole the best size of bend, 

 a small piece of the end of the shank should be nipped off, as the grass- 

 hopper would otherwise be too long and large for ordinary purposes. 



