GKAYLING WHEN IN SEASON. 291 



for a limited time when the fly becomes only doubtfully 

 attractive. 



Very few words are sufficient for par-tail fishing, as the 

 method is precisely similar to minnow-spinning. The 

 tackle almost invariably used is that shown in Plate VIII. 

 fig. 5, p 284. To cut a par-tail bait : take a sharp knife 

 and slice the little fish ^through from the fore part of the 

 dorsal fin to midway between the anal and ventral fins ; cut 

 off the fins, thread the big hook down through the bait, 

 beginning at the tail, and bending the fine end of the cut 

 on the bend of the hook to give the twist, hook on the lip- 

 hook, and let the triangle hang loose. (N.B. Take par- 

 ticular care the water-bailiff does not note your operations, 

 or you will very probably be fined for killing salmon fry ; 

 for this reason I say little about the par-tail ; but I feel 

 bound to notice it, as it is a style which has prevailed, 

 chiefly in the north, for many years.) 



THE GRAYLING (Salmo thyma/lus). 



I have a very high opinion of this fish. If the trout be 

 the gentleman of the streams, the grayling is certainly the 

 lady, and I think it in some respects little inferior to the 

 trout, and in others superior to him ; for example, grayling 

 seldom become so shy as trout do. There are many well- 

 whipped streams where, after the middle of July, unless 

 specially favoured by the water and weather, you have little 

 or no hope of getting a trout of any size to move until 

 dusk or almost dark ; yet come upon a bit of grayling 

 water in such streams, and you are almost as likely to take 

 a brace of grayling in August as you are in May. The 

 grayling supplies, too, capital fly-fishing from the time 

 the trout goes out almost until he comes in again. The 

 worst point of comparison is in his play ; and in this he is 

 certainly inferior to the trout, for although when hooked 



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