96 FLOATING FLIES 



From the eggs deposited upon or in the 

 water by the adult insect, or " spinner," in 

 due time the nymphs are hatched. Upon these 

 the trout feed at times on the stream-bed and 

 in the weeds, nosing upon the bottom and in 

 the aquatic vegetation in somewhat the same 

 way as the common sucker or the German carp 

 go about their business of drawing sustenance 

 from the muck and weeds of the stream-bed. 

 This habit of the trout, when followed in shal- 

 low water, results in an occasional disturbance 

 of the surface by the tails of the fish and is 

 called " tailing " in the nomenclature of the 

 English dry fly fisherman. In this connection 

 it should be noted, however, that the nymphs 

 of the Ephemeridae which burrow under 

 rocks and in the stream-bed and there remain 

 until about to assume the first winged, or dun, 

 state are practically inaccessible to the fish, al- 

 though doubtless taken at times. Tailing 

 trout are usually feeding upon caddis and other 

 larvae. 



Subsequently the nymphs, having undergone 

 certain physical changes while in the nymphal 

 stage, are ready to rise to the surface, cast 

 off the nymphal shuck or envelope, and emerge 

 into the air in the first winged state (sub-imago) 

 at which time, as noted, they are called duns. 



