244 THE BRITISH ANGLER'S LEXICON. 



the artificial fly on the surface of the water, they are feeding 

 on the embryo flies rising from the bottom, which they 

 hunt and catch before they get to the surface. It is almost 

 useless trying the artificial fly when this is the case ; at any 

 rate, the only plan to be adopted is to fish with sunken 

 flies that is to say, allow the flies to sink well down in the 

 water. When two or three friends join in an angling 

 excursion, they should arrange matters so as not to 

 interfere with each other's sport ; they should divide, 

 and agree to fish certain lengths of the river. It is a bad 

 plan passing each other ; better to wait behind your friend 

 who is fishing in front, and if half an hour intervenes 

 between his flogging the water and yours there will not be 

 much harm done. Perhaps your fly is more to the trout's 

 taste than his, and you may catch where he has missed. A 

 trout fisher, when just going on the water, should try and 

 find out the natural fly which is sailing down, and then 

 match it from his collection ; this will give him a better 

 chance. If he has not a fac-simile, he should get one as 

 near it as possible, especially in colour. In rivers where 

 good-sized trout are known to be, an angler should return 

 to the water all trout under eight inches. In mountain 

 streams where small trout abound and only small trout 

 it may be allowable to basket those over six inches, but 

 all under should certainly be returned. In well-preserved 

 \vaters there is usually a scale of the size of the fish which 

 may be killed. As a rule, large heavy rivers contain a few 

 good trout, and small quick-running streams an abundance 

 of small trout. This is partly due to the fact that in 

 heavy streams the spawning places are not well adapted 

 for hatching out the young fry, owing to the depth, the cold- 

 ness of the water, and the sand or marly bottom of the 



