THE GRAYLING, AND BAIT-FISHING FOR. 409 



A run will of course be perceived as the bait is being drawn 

 up, when a smart stroke should be given, and the fish held 

 tightly. Otherwise from its non-fighting propensities, a large 

 grayling is very likely to get off ; the hook also is a good deal 

 encumbered with gentles. When first struck, the larger grayling 

 appear to me to fight as an eel fights pulling tail backwards, 

 instead of running down or away, head first, as other fish gene- 

 rally do ; and I hardly ever remember seeing a hooked grayling 

 spring out of water. 



The best spots for grasshopper fishing have already been 

 described. Where the water is deep enough, a short line 

 worked almost perpendicularly near the bank will be found 

 most successful : but by throwing out a considerable distance, 

 excellent water otherwise inaccessible can often be reached. 

 The cast may be made over-hand like a fly to a distance of 

 some ten yards, but care must be taken to allow the line to 

 spread well behind, or otherwise the bait will perform various 

 eccentric flights into the bank or bushes. A longish light rod, 

 say fourteen or fifteen feet, is most convenient for grasshopper 

 fishing ; and a fine running line which is not much liable to be 

 acted upon by the current. 



As a rule, fish caught with the grasshopper are twice as 

 large as those caught with the fly. September, October, 

 November and December are the best months, and the best 

 days are usually quiet warm days succeeding frosty nights in 

 fact, grasshopper fishing never fairly gets into play until the 

 first sharpish frost. From about 8 A.M. until 4 P.M. is com- 

 monly the best time of day. The proportions of a Teme 

 grayling of about one and a half pounds which I measured 

 were : total length of the head, body, and tail-fin being 

 considered as five and a half, the length of the head alone as 

 one. Depth of body slightly greater than length of head ; tail 

 forked. As in all members of the salmon family, the grayling 

 has two back fins, the second adipose or fatty. 



Number of scales in lateral line about eighty-seven. 



