ON RIVERS 71 



salmon flies. Few though they be in relation to 

 the whole of the flies in use, absolutely they are 

 many. " Seventy-six of them ! " I can imagine 

 some one exclaiming. " It would be a week's work 

 to give each a half-hour's trial ! How am I to know 

 which four or five to trust when I have only a day 

 to spare ? " 



That question cannot be answered precisely. 

 All the knowledge we possess is general. Large flies 

 are appropriate in spring and autumn; in summer 

 smaller flies are best. Flies with silver bodies begin 

 to be attractive as the colder weather comes. The 

 lower the stream, the more sombre should be the 

 lure. When the river is tinged by flood water the 

 gaudiest flies are the most likely to be successful. 



These are general rules, dependent, of course, 

 upon normal conditions. Usually the rivers are 

 fairly full early in the year ; usually they are small 

 in summer; usually they begin to rise as autumn 

 is approaching. Sometimes, however, the normal 

 order is broken, and then we find that the rules are 

 not without exceptions. Here again an incident 

 may be helpful. 



Just as Jock, in the estimate of Serjeant 

 Mulvaney, was " a deceivin' fighter," the Tay is a 

 deceivin' river. Almost every part looks as if it 

 would be excellent for trout; but that is judging 

 from experience on ordinary streams. The Tay is 

 not ordinary. It is an enormous burn rather than 

 being a river. Contrast it with the Thames. That 

 is a temperate stream, sedate, not often in a terrifying 



