1 34 Natural-Fly Fishing. 



posited in the water ; and when hatched, the young 

 larvse the well-known creepers manage to crawl 

 underneath the stones, where they pass the long 

 pupal term of their existence. When about to 

 change into the perfect form, they come out of 

 their retreats, the pupal cases split and the winged 

 insects emerge, leaving their shed pellicles upon 

 the channel. 



Like most water-bred flies with the exception 

 of a few of the larger species, such as the green 

 drake the May-flies prefer the rippling stream to 

 the silent pool, and will rarely be found in com- 

 paratively still water. " They love to remain near 

 the water in which they were reared, and seldom 

 travel to any distance from the familiar banks." * 

 The angler, therefore, has not far to go to seek 

 them ; while, owing to their dull and sluggish habits, 

 he has no difficulty in capturing them as they sit 

 under the stones or banks at the side of the stream. 

 Mr Stewart advises that they be collected the night 

 before they are wanted for fishing, on the ground 

 that the gathering of them consumes much time. 

 If the angler is "up with the lark," however, he 

 will not find it so. The insects are most readily 

 obtained at daybreak, when as many can be gathered 

 in half an hour as will suffice for the day's fishing. 

 They are then to be found on the channel near the 



1 Wood's Insects at Home, p. 264. 



