SELECTING THE FLY 43 



As we are now approaching the stream, we will look 

 at the water and see if anything is moving. By 

 standing here and looking up-stream we shall not scare 

 the fish, and in order to see if the trout are feeding 

 we must look out for any unusual movement on the 

 surface of the water, such as the ring or dimple made 

 by a rising fish. No, there is nothing moving yet ; 

 it is perhaps a little too early or not quite warm enough 

 to tempt the pupae to come to the surface in order to 

 enter their aerial life, and therefore until they begin to 

 move upward to the surface the trout are not likely to 

 rise. In my creel is a self-contained butterfly-net ; 

 it is ready for use in a few seconds, and by its aid I 

 catch that gnat-like fly floating on the water. It is the 

 sub-irnago or dun called the Blue Quill, the very fly 

 the trout were taking yesterday. Look ! There is 

 another one on the water floating down, probably one 

 of a previous so-called hatch of the same fly. I will 

 catch him to make certain. Watch how I do it. I slip 

 the net into the water just in front of the fly, which 

 floats into it. Here he is, clinging to the muslin. Now 

 look at these two flies carefully. You can see at once 

 that both are just like the Blue Quill fly on my line, 

 which is one of the best-known flies on English waters. 

 If you fit this watchmaker's magnify ing-glass into 

 your eye, you will notice more distinctly the colour and 

 appearance of its delicate wings, its body, and its legs.* 



* If a fly is caught the name of which is unknown to the student, 

 it should be placed in a small specimen bottle and either shown to a 

 friendly authority or forwarded to the retailer with whom the student 



