The Creeper. 153 



long in a daintier dress to more fastidious tastes. 

 In their " happy hunting-grounds " below, the trout 

 are wont to consider these aquatic larvae as quite 

 fair game, and doubtless find them remarkably good 

 eating. This is more or less true regarding the 

 larvae of all flies at all seasons ; but it is especially 

 the case in winter and early spring, when, most 

 of the flies being still undeveloped, the absence of 

 winged life above compels the trout to seek their 

 nourishment below. 



With the knowledge of this fact before him, 

 the angler will have himself to blame if he 

 do not profit by it. The insects in these imma- 

 ture states are, it is true, neither so attractive 

 to the sight nor so pleasant to handle as the 

 winged flies ; and their unsavoury nature, no less 

 than an imperfect appreciation of their value as 

 lures, induces many anglers to abjure them alto- 

 gether. So long, however, as they constitute a 

 perfectly legitimate bait in all open waters, and 

 so long as they rank high in the estimation of 

 the trout, they cannot be entirely neglected by the 

 fisher who caters for the patronage of the fish, 

 or makes provision for his own sport. Indeed, in 

 their larval forms, many of these flies are as lures 

 superior to all other ground-bait, and second in im- 

 portance only to the winged insects themselves. 



Of all such, perhaps the one best known to the 



