98 ROD AND RIVER 



the water-flies are, even to the naked eye. In- 

 spection under the microscope reveals indescribable 

 beauty and wonders. Thus, seen alongside of 

 the most exquisitely tied artificial, the latter, 

 appears but a gross caricature. What material 

 or what skill could ever imitate so marvellous a 

 structure ? How could so coarse-looking a lump 

 of feathers, bound together by such cart-ropy- 

 looking stuff as even the very finest of silk 

 appears, ever serve to deceive so lynx-eyed a fish 

 as a trout ? It is surely little matter for surprise 

 that on rivers which have been much fished the 

 trout grow shy, and scorn the lures presented to 

 them in the shape of artificial flies, or that in the 

 crystal waters of our chalk streams they are so 

 capricious and dainty in their choice. The 

 wonder is rather that they are ever deceived. 

 On my own river, where the fish are exceptionally 

 shy, it is a matter of difficulty, and one which 

 requires the greatest care and caution, the use of 

 the finest tackle and the most carefully-dressed 

 flies, to capture them. 



I had for a long time been exercised in my 

 mind as to which of the two following details 

 in artificial trout-flies is of the greater importance 

 viz., the wings or the body of the fly. Now, 

 it is well-nigh impossible to imitate, even coarsely, 

 the exquisite gossamer-like transparency of the 

 wing of a natural fly. There is no material which 



