58 FLIES AND FLY FISHING. 



Mr. Francis, in his book on " General Angling," does 

 not say very much about grayling, but what he does say 

 is almost entirely wrong from beginning to end, and 

 the author of a small book called the " River Side," 

 who seems to have fished a good deal for grayling, after 

 giving information as to the habits of this fish, and 

 instructions how. to fish for him, in opposition to most 

 grayling fishermen's ideas, accounts for this by the fact 

 of his having studied them in their native waters. Now 

 I have killed grayling in very many parts of the world, 

 and have fished several of the rivers in Germany, &c., 

 mentioned in his work, and I have always found that the 

 habits of grayling are the same all over the world, whether 

 they are natives of a river, or have been introduced into 

 it at some time or other. 



And Mr. Pennell (a great authority on pike fishing), 

 says, that " the maximum weight which a grayling under 

 ordinary conditions arrives at is from four to five pounds." 

 This is an entire mistake, a fish of anything approaching 

 that size, is very rare indeed in any waters. 



Although he may not make quite such fierce rushes as 

 the trout, the play of a large grayling when hooked is 

 very good, and nothing can be more sporting than the way 

 that he comes up at a fly from the bottom. The strike 



