148 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING. 



where trout were plentiful and rising well I should 

 use up a couple of dozen. Mayflies may be 

 restored to some extent when their wings have 

 got wet by being stuck into one's felt hat (a 

 friend of mine has a flannel band round his for this 

 purpose ; I generally stick my flies into the hat 

 itself, which is not very good either for hat or flies,, 

 but it saves trouble) ; exposure to wind and suni 

 soon dries them, and they can be used again. But 

 if the wings have got twisted the fly is of no further 

 use. 



It is partly the expense of winged flies that has 

 made me take to hackle Mayflies of the kind 

 known as " straddle-bugs." But it is partly that I 

 have found them to all intents and purposes as 

 effective. They can be obtained in various colours,, 

 and I recommend the novice (if he be not wealthy) 

 to depend on them for his principal stock. They 

 float very well if their hooks are not too heavy in 

 the wire, and they last practically for ever. Pale 

 green, dirty white, bright and dull yellow, and 

 smoky grey are the colours I generally carry, and 

 all seem about equally effective at various times. 

 I think the bright yellow one does best towards 

 the end of the Mayfly season, when the fish are 

 more or less glutted and possibly relish a novelty, 

 A further useful pattern is the spent gnat, a smoke- 



