194 THE SCIENTIFIC ANGLER. 



Iron Blue will be equally effective as when the light col- 

 ored "blues" are absorbing the attention of the fish. 

 The dark shade will, in clear water, often fail to accom- 

 plish much; in these circumstances, no matter how well 

 the fish may be rising, other " artificials," infallible as 

 they may be in their seasons, will prove utterly useless. 



Whilst fishing the Kennet upon one occasion, not very 

 long ago, a rather striking instance of this came before 

 our notice. Out of a round half-dozen of fishermen upon 

 the length we were about to fish, there were two northern 

 anglers, spider theorists. These gentlemen, being 

 strongly prejudiced against the southern regimen, had 

 very eloquently declaimed, prior to our setting forth, 

 against the absurdity of attempting to copy any special 

 fly, maintaining that when fish are inclined to feed, one 

 fly is as good as another, so long as the size is somewhere 

 near the mark, adding that when fish were not inclined 

 for feeding "every conceivable object in the fly-book 

 would fail to tempt them." 



Finding verbal arguments ineffective, we had adjourned 

 to the river's brim to try the effect of practical ones. 

 The day opened bright and clear, with no flies on the 

 water, and no fish on the rise, in which circumstances our 

 Scotch friends wisely, in their own opinion, declined to 

 fish. The remainder of the party, upon the other hand, 

 rigged up with double-hooked Palmers, and commenced. 

 These are cast on the water the same as the fly, and are 

 then allowed to sink and move with the current. After 

 a few fish had been allured from unseen haunts in this 

 manner, to the amazement of the north countrymen, they 

 protested that alluring ointment must have been used, 

 which imputation was indignantly resented by several of 

 the company, who affirmed that the sense of sight in fish 

 was all they attempted to deceive; that no modern fisher- 

 man believed in the efficiency of obnoxious ointments, 

 and other pigments, and that the only reason that Wai- 



