FLY FISHING FOR GRAYLING. 233 



lost fish one could see them rise, turn, follow 

 the fly and reject it time after time, always the 

 moment it dragged. Yet they ended moth like 

 in singeing their wings. 



On wide and shallow stretches of grayling 

 water where the fish can be seen rising at 

 frequent intervals for hours at a time on a 

 bright October or November day, one will 

 usually find that this tempting prospect is 

 tempered by a steady downstream wind. I said 

 some time back that I had never seen grayling 

 fished for downstream. This is a mistake, as 

 in the very place described, I watched two rods 

 one morning doing everything they could to 

 circumvent these fish and all in vain. After 

 they had gone I tried, with the same result, 

 until I was sufficiently snubbed and was forced 

 to retire to the hatch-stile and watch them 

 through field glasses. 



Seven or eight good fish could be located 

 which at intervals of about half a minute came 

 up in an easy manner, took a fly in a whisper, 

 and then popped down again. One could see 

 them lying above the grey bottom, evidently 

 scanning the surface from its under side most 

 carefully. From the hours I might say weeks 

 spent upon that stile I became convinced that 

 the sight of the angler is the sole reason for 

 the grayling rejecting the artificial fly, and that, 

 so long as their caution is not thus aroused, 

 their mere sense of discrimination between the 

 natural and imitation insect can be deceived. 

 Since then I have always treated them as care- 



