1 1 8 A rtificial-Fly Fishing. 



found in abundance. At and above Thankerton, 

 where the Clyde flows for miles over a sandy bed, 

 the flies are plentiful, and the sport consequently 

 good. Higher up, between Eoberton and Elvanfoot, 

 the channel is rough and rocky, and the sand-flies 

 are less abundant. Above Elvanfoot, again, the 

 sandy bed reappears, and again they find a con- 

 genial home. The Tweed, on the other hand, affords 

 no such varieties of channel, but flows for the most 

 part over a stony bed, and cannot therefore be com- 

 pared to the Clyde as a sand-fly stream. But here 

 the law of compensation comes in to save the lives 

 of the trout and the sport of the anglers; for we 

 find that those rivers, or portions of them, which 

 are not naturally adapted for sand-fly fishing, are 

 usually the best for the May-fly ; and this because 

 the latter is hatched under stones in the bed of the 

 stream, where the sand-fly cannot exist. 



A bright day with sunshine and wind is generally 

 the best for angling during this month. But this 

 rule is subject to several modifications. On a black 

 water, for example, bright sunshine is desirable 

 during the period of the sand-fly's existence ; but, 

 both before its advent and after its departure, a 

 dull day is to be preferred; and then the angler 

 who is possessed of any skill in his art, should 

 never be content with anything less than a basket 

 of from twelve to twenty pounds, either on Clyde 



