ANGLING IMPROVED. 



tinues its colour and virtue one month ; and generally 

 all flies last a much shorter time, except the stone-fly, 

 by some called the May-fly, which is bred of the water 

 cricket, creeps out of the river, and getting under the 

 stones by the water side, turns to a fly, and lies 

 under the stones ; the May-fly and the reddish fly with 

 ashy grey wings. Besides the season of the year may 

 much vary the time of their coming in; a forward 

 Spring brings them in sooner, and a late Spring the 

 later. Flies being creatures bred of putrefaction, take 

 life as the heat furthers or disposes the seminal virtue 

 by which they are generated into animation : and there- 

 fore all I can say as to time is, that your own observa- 

 tion must be your best instructor, when is the time 

 that each fly comes in, and will be most acceptable to 

 the fish, of which I shall speak more fully in the next 

 section. Further also I have observed, that several rivers 

 and soils produce several sorts of flies ; as the mossy 

 boggy soils have one sort peculiar to them; the clay soil, 

 gravely and mountainous country and rivers ; and a mel- 

 low light soil different from them all; yet some sorts are 

 common to all these sorts of rivers and soils, but they 

 are few, and differ somewhat in colour from those bred 

 elsewhere in other soils. 



In general, all sorts of flies are very good in their 

 season, for such fish as will rise at the fly, viz. Salmon, 

 Trout, Urnber, Grayling, Bleak, Chevin, Roach, Dace, 

 &c. Though some of these fish do love some flies 

 better than other, except the fish named, I know not 

 any sort or kind that will ordinarily and freely rise at 



