52 *LY FISHING, 



there are many others that in their proper season, may be far 

 more successfully resorted to. In a strange river however, where 

 an angler is in utter ignorance as to the flies he should adopt, it is 

 a very prudent plan to have either a red or a blue hackle on your 

 line, changing your flies from time to time till you find them be- 

 come more attractive. 



There are also some excellent small gnats which may be used all 

 the season through, and that are taken admirably of an evening. 



The first of these is the blue gnat, a very small fly, the body 

 being warped with pale slate coloured silk, with a slight dubbing 

 of the roots of a squirrel's tail, with a small pale blue hackle over 

 all. 2. Another, and a rare killer, having a slight body made with 

 the dark herl of the peacock with the fibre stripped off, and whisks 

 at the tail, with the same hackle as the last over all. 3. A black 

 gnat, the body being of mole's fur of a slender form, warped with 

 dark brown silk, with a very small black hackle over all, and in 

 addition to this you may add wings of the quill feather of a hen 

 blackbird. Some prefer the peawit's top for a hackle for this fly. 

 This fly like the former should have whisks at the tail, as indeed 

 should all gnats as well as ephemeral flies ; for though gnats have 

 not in reality any whisks growing out of their nether extremities, 

 yet from the position in which they carry their long hind legs 

 whilst in the act of of flying they present this appearance, and it 

 is in this point of view the fish are in the habit of seeing them 

 sport their figures over their heads ; consequently it is advisable 

 that the imitations should be presented to the notice of the fish in 

 the same form. 



The cow dung fly may also be used as early as you please, some 

 of them like the yellow blossom of the furze being to be met with all 

 the year round. These flies are most successful in windy weather, 

 when a sudden gust often blows them unexpectedly from their lux- 

 urious repasts in the meadows into the flowing stream, where 

 they themselves form a feast for the fishes, who at those times 

 are on the look out for flies of this kind, in seizing upon 

 which with indiscriminate haste, they in their turn become 

 food for mankind ; and here I pause, for beyond this the subject 

 ceases to be a pleasing one. The best way to imitate the cow 

 dung fly is to make the body of dirty yellow wool, with a little 

 brown sable mixed with it, a pale red hackle wound round for legs; 

 the wings to lie flat on the back, rather shorter than the body, and 



