5 2 Trouting-Flies. 



early days of their brief existence, the insects wear 

 their brightest coats. I always capture them in the 

 morning, as I find that in their yellow attire they 

 possess the greatest fascination for the giddy trout, 

 as is evidenced by the literally " devouring affection" 

 which the finny tribe display towards them. The 

 May -fly, indeed, is the most tempting and most 

 deadly natural insect known to the angler. I 

 seldom use the imitation when I can get the nat- 

 ural fly, seeing the trout have a like preference. 

 But in places where the insect cannot be found at 

 all during its season, or on waters from which it 

 has just passed off, a good imitation may work 

 some destruction. 



I make one thus : Body A piece of cork cut the 

 same shape, and ribbed with yellow and brown 

 silk. Wings Whalebone scraped as thin as gauze. 

 Hackle stained yellowish brown. A No. 5 hook is 

 tied on at the tail, and another at the shoulder of 

 the fly. The object in making the body of cork is 

 to get a large fly of this kind to float. It is fished 

 down-stream in the same way as we use the natural 

 insect. The method will be explained in a sub- 

 sequent chapter. 



