164 MAY-FLY FISHING. 



chapter or volume, it is this fly to which we allude. 

 Away from Tweedside, its virtues as a lure for 

 trout are little known, and we believe there are 

 numbers of anglers who have never heard of it, 

 and a still greater number who would not know it 

 if they saw it. Unfortunately for the angler, the 

 period of its duration in its matured state is short, 

 but while it lasts it is a most deadly bait for trout ; 

 and, under circumstances favourable to its use, a 

 greater weight can be taken by it than by fly, 

 worm, or minnow. The trout captured by it are 

 also larger than those caught by any other means, 

 and in point of condition they are the very finest 

 the river contains ; indeed, with this bait, the angler 

 will never get an ill-conditioned fish. 



Mr. Wilson in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and 

 again in the Rod and Gun, states that the stone- 

 fly comes out of the caddis or case-worm ; an 

 aquatic larva, which is to be found plentifully in 

 the bottom of most rivers, enclosed in a curious 

 shell made of sticks and gravel cemented together. 

 But we believe this distinguished naturalist to be 

 in error ; the caddis worms, or cod-bait, as they are 

 usually denominated, are to be found in abundance 

 up to the beginning of August, long after the last 

 May-fly has disappeared, arid are the larvae of flies 

 which assume the winged state during that month. 

 In another part of his volume, Mr. Wilson alludes 

 to the creeper or water-cricket as a bait deserving 

 the attention of the angler; this is the stone or 



