THE GRAYLING 



in a coloured plate, together with three of his own, remarking that '* if 

 the fly -fisher for grayling fails to rise fish in any river of England with 

 the five casts here quoted, nothing short of an earthquake will bring them 

 up." It is to be noted that these flies are intended to be fished wet; but 

 Mr Pritt, whose experience has been gained chiefly in the rivers of York- 

 shire and Derbyshire, adds, " I usually have two or three of the winged 

 patterns dressed as floaters, in order to use them, if need be, according 

 to the system of dry-fly flshing practised in the south." 



Mr Pritt's own flies are dressed as follows : 



Crimson Tag. — ^Body rather full, of bright green peacock's herl. Hackle 

 at head, the bronze feather from a golden plover's breast. Tag, crimson 

 wool. Hook No. 1. 



Dark Needle. — ^Body, quill; hackle at head, the darkest feather from a 

 brown owl's wing-covert. Hook No. 0. 



Tog Black.— Win^, from a bullfinch's pen feather; shoulder hackle 

 from a starling's neck; body, dark purple silk, ribbed with black fibre of 

 heron's herl. Hook No. 0. 



Except for its vernal habit of spawning and its preference for deep 

 water and gently flowing streams, the general tenor of a grayling's 

 life is much the same as a brook-trout's. Like the trout, it is essentially 

 predacious, and although the purse -like contour of its fleshy lips suggests 

 a diet partly vegetarian like a carp's, Linnaeus did not display his wonted 

 acumen when he accepted the current explanation of the thyme -like odour 

 of this fish (whence its name Thymallus) as arising from its browsing on 

 water -thyme. The grayling has none of those molar -like pharyngeal teeth 

 wherewith the carp chews vegetable growths, and although the armature 

 of its jaws is minute compared with that of the trout, it is very effective 

 and serves for the capture of larvae, flies, small fish and such like, which 

 form its staple diet. Flies, natural and artificial, worms and gentles are 

 therefore the lures employed in grayling fishing, and although nobody 

 ought to offer this elegant fish the indignity of setting out to catch it with a 

 minnow, grayling are often caught on a spinning bait by fishers in pursuit 

 of trout. 



I have read that the most deadly way of taking grayling is with an 

 artificial bait called the grasshopper, consisting of a hook lapped with 

 lead, over which is wound green and yellow Berlin wool. This is cast into 

 any likely deep water, allowed to sink and drawn up with a jerking motion. 

 Not having seen this method practised, and being devoid of the faintest 



V 161 



