CHANGE OF FLIES. 143 



animal that he had previously seen flying. This event 

 happened when I was a novice. Walter Ronaldson was 

 attending me, and we were walking by the side of the 

 Elm-ivheel in the Pavilion-water. Walter was some 

 way in advance, when I saw a white butterfly flutter- 

 ing up and down over the water, and a salmon make 

 a fruitless dart at it. It chanced that I had made some 

 large salmon flies with white wings, in imitation of a 

 pattern that was formerly the fashion for trout fishing, 

 and was called, I know not why, the coachvian. One 

 of these I immediately looped to my line: the fish, 

 no doubt taking it for the butterfly that he saw flitting 

 above him, came at it at once, and I took him. When 

 he was landed, Walter's astonishment was great when 

 he saw the fly, and he made a dozen imitations of it 

 before he laid his head on the pillow. I should not 

 think that under other circumstances such a fly would 

 be alluring. 



When a man toils a long time without success, he is 

 apt to attribute his failure to the using an improper fly; 

 so he changes his book through, till at last, perhaps, he 

 catches fish. The fly, with which he achieves this, is 

 naturally enough a favourite ever afterwards, and pro- 

 bably without reason : the cause of success might be in 

 the change of air and temperature of the water ; and the 

 same thing would probably have occurred if he had 

 persevered with the same fly with which he began. 

 When the night has been frosty, salmon will not stir 

 till the water has received the genial warmth of the 

 day ; and there are a thousand hidden causes of obstruc- 

 tion which we, who are not fish, know nothing about. 



