A DAY'S DRY FLY FISHING 13 



creel is a small and light telescopic butterfly-net and 

 priest ; 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 a flying 

 form of water insect life 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 the way 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, one of the best-known flies on southern 

 English waters. If you fit this watchmaker's magnifying- 

 glass into your eye, you will notice more distinctly the colour 

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



Now we will see if there is any rise. No, there are no 

 signs of a move yet, as the pupae which will form to-day's 

 hatch are possibly waiting among the weeds until the water 

 becomes a little warmer or perhaps altered by some 

 meteorological change, before rising to the surface, and 

 therefore the trout have not been as yet excited by their 

 appearance. 



We had better, therefore, continue our walk down to 

 our starting-point at the lower end of our water. What ! 

 You saw a rise ? Where ? Oh, I see. That is not a 

 trout, but a water-rat. See him working his way up-stream 

 among the rushes and under the long grass of the bank. 

 Notice how he makes a long slanting, rippling line from the 

 bank out into the stream, instead of the detached ripple or 



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

 be compared with the flies in his fly box and its name thus ascertained, or 

 placed in a small specimen bottle and either shown to a friendly authority 

 or forwarded to the author of this book or to the retailer with whom the 

 student may deal. By this means a general entomological knowledge will 

 be obtained. A single watchmaker's glass is always a most useful adjunct 

 to carry in your fishing bag, also a small butterfly net. 



