1 66 MAY-FLY FISHING. 



night before he expects to use them. They are 

 better newly gathered; but when the angler is 

 fishing, unless he has an attendant, the gathering 

 of them consumes much valuable time. The most 

 convenient method of taking them to the water-side 

 is in a tin case, shaped something like a powder- 

 flask. It should be commodious, six or seven 

 inches long by four or five wide, and an inch and 

 a half thick. The end at which the flies are to be 

 put in and taken out should be narrow, with an 

 opening just sufficient to allow one or two flies to 

 come out at a time, otherwise the angler will have 

 great difficulty in keeping them in. The lid should 

 be fastened with a hinge, and the whole canister 

 perforated with holes to admit the air. The 

 creepers can be best preserved in a little of the 

 river-water, and seem amphibious, as they will live 

 a whole day in a canister in the angler's pocket. 

 It is different with the flies ; care must be taken 

 to keep them dry, as water kills them. 



Creepers, then, first merit the attention of the 

 angler, and may be used with success as soon as 

 trout come into condition. The rod and tackle 

 used for worm-fishing will answer very well for this 

 also, with the exception of the hook ; and with 

 regard to it, some anglers bait both the creeper and 

 the fly on an ordinary sized bait hook. We, how- 

 ever, think two hooks are best, and for creeper- 

 fishing, use two No. 7 or 8 hooks tied with yellow 

 silk to the same piece of gut, so close, that the barb 



