42 Trouting- Flies. 



February, should the weather be bright and genial, 

 and continues in season until the end of March. It 

 is a small insect with a dark-brown or reddish-black 

 body, two sets of light mottled wings (of which the 

 posterior are the larger), and legs of a reddish tinge. 

 Though Father Walton says that " no man should, 

 in honesty, catch a trout in the middle of March," 

 his collaborateur Cotton begins his fly-fishing in 

 January, and leads off with a " red brown," for which 

 he substitutes the " lesser red brown" in February. 

 I fancy that the angler's " honesty " is not so much a 

 barrier to the enjoyment of the sport in February 

 as the late seasons which are now the rule in this 

 country, and which prevent the flies from making 

 their appearance in any numbers during that month. 

 On a fine day, however, good sport is occasionally 

 got with the red ; and I have seen a basket of 

 twenty pounds taken with it in February. 



It is dressed as follows : Body A thread of 

 black and one of pale-red silk twisted together, with 

 black and red cock's hackle. Wings The light 

 side of a feather from the hen-pheasant wing, tied 

 on a No. 2 hook. 



It may be as well to state here, once for all, that 

 my flies are dressed on Adlington's hooks, which I 

 consider by far the best that are made. 



2. The Blae, or Blue Dun of English anglers. 

 The blaes are a very numerous genus, and one 



