CREEPER AND STONE FLY FISHING 63 



be found during the latter part of April and throughout 

 May under the stones in shallow water near the edges 

 of streams. The Creeper varies in colour from an 

 olive green to a dull dark brown, strong yellow showing 

 at the junction of the segments of the body. It is of 

 somewhat repulsive appearance, and measures from 

 half an inch to nearly an inch in length. It has six legs, 

 two caudal setae, and two antennae. 



It is often difficult to collect a supply of Creepers ; 

 not that they are particularly active, but the dis- 

 turbance of the water caused by lifting the stones is 

 apt to hide them while they wriggle under other stones. 

 It is stated that if the angler, wishing to secure a 

 supply, stands with his back to the current of the 

 river and holds his landing net upright before him 

 with the top of the net resting on the river bed, and 

 then shuffles his brogues amongst the stones, the 

 Creepers displaced by his activity will be washed into 

 the waiting net and a plentiful supply be thus secured. 

 The writers have never been particularly successful in 

 this device, but that is no reason why others should 

 not try it. The Creepers obtained are best kept in a 

 tin box, together with a little damp moss. 



There is no doubt that the Creeper forms an 

 important item in the trout's menu in Spring, as an 

 autopsy of the day's catch at that time of the year 

 will reveal ; and many is the Creeper that has been 

 grabbed by a watchful fish as it ventured from out 



