152 Dry -Fly Fishing. 



mile of the Itchen Valley fishery, and in two hours 

 only saw two May-flies. 



During June, July, and August, fishing only two 

 or three hours a day, often only one hour in the 

 evening, the undermentioned statement briefly sets 

 forth the sport obtained, all, of course, with dry- 

 flies dressed on small hooks, 000 to in size ; chiefly 

 red quills with and without gold tags, pale, medium, 

 or dark olives with or without flat silver tags, 

 Englefield quills, and gold-ribbed hare's ears. I 

 seldom saw a really good rise of the Ephemerida? 

 either in the morning or after sunset. Spinners 

 were not so numerous in the air or over the water 

 as in former years, nor were so many brown sedge - 

 flies out at dusk, but smaller silver sedges were 

 abundant, and pale midges swarmed around one's 

 cap, on which artificial flies were stuck, probably 

 attracted by them. Nocturnal insects came forth 

 freely, and stinging gnats, deserving the name of 

 mosquito for their virulence, were a great nuisance, 

 as also were diptera, like small house-flies, in the 

 hot days of July and August, crawling over one's 

 face and hands, into the corners of one's eyes, and 

 even entering the nostrils. 



Sport in June. 



6th 7th 18th 19th 



Number of fish 41 3 2 



Weight in Ib. and oz 3-12 1-6 5-4 2-11 



22nd 25th 26th 29th 



Number of fish 2 5 1 1 



Weight in Ib. and oz 3-4 5 1-8 1-6 



