The Creeper. 155 



river becomes low, the creepers retire with the 

 stream, and always have their home near its 

 margin. They are best carried in a small perfor- 

 ated tin-box, containing a little moss, and furnished 

 with a sliding lid to permit one insect to come out 

 at a time. 



The rod and line recommended for May-fly fish- 

 ing up-stream will answer admirably for creeper. 

 The gut should be of the finest, and the tackle 

 may be either single or double. In the single 

 tackle a large hook, a No. 10, is employed. Two 

 insects, threaded from mouth to tail on this hook, 

 will be sufficient to cover the metal and form a 

 tempting bait. Sinkers are unnecessary ; a large 

 hook thus baited sinks of itself. With this tackle 

 do not strike on the first intimation that a trout 

 has seized the bait, but allow the fish to run for a 

 short distance before you respond. It is a large 

 bait on a large hook, and possibly the trout, unable 

 or unwilling to gulp it down all at once, is pro- 

 longing the delight by sucking it " smaller by de- 

 degrees and beautifully less." So give him time to 

 work his own destruction, or you'll lose him. 



For a double tackle you may use two No. 5 or 

 two No. 6 hooks, tied back to back, with their barbs 

 about a quarter of an inch apart. Shorten the 

 shank of the upper hook a little, so that the ends 

 of both may nearly coincide on the gut ; this makes 



