ON TROUTING WITH THE FLY 113 



season ; any of the flies we have mentioned, dressed 

 of the same size, will be equally killing. The flies 

 used this month should in general be full size ; if the 

 waters are coloured, Nos. 9 and 10 will be found most 

 effective ; but if the waters are small, a size or two 

 less will be advisable. 



At this season a warm sunny day is most favour- 

 able to the angler. The birth of flies depends in a 

 great measure upon the state of the weather ; and 

 when there are no natural flies on the water, trout 

 never rise freely at an artificial one. An east wind 

 or a cold frosty day is a death-blow to the angler's 

 hopes, as in such there are no flies to be seen, and the 

 trout retire to deep water. In this month we have 

 frequently seen, about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, 

 a perfect shower of March browns come on the water, 

 which for half an hour or so appeared almost boiling 

 with trout leaping ; and then the flies went off and 

 all was quiet again. Till the flies appeared we met 

 with no sport ; when they were on the water we got 

 a rise almost every cast, and when they went away we 

 hardly got another trout. 



This is what is popularly known as " the time of 

 the take," and occurs more or less, at some time of 

 the day, the whole season through. The leaping of 

 the trout in all directions at once informs the angler 

 when it commences, and he should make the most of 

 his time. It sometimes happens several times during 

 the day, but rarely lasts more than an hour at a 

 time, and stops as suddenly as it commences. It is 

 only during the take that a trout can be caught in 



