NOTES ON THE MONTHS FOR FLY-FISHING. 221 



manner before essaying to finally absorb it. A gentle 

 hitch, should always be given before taking the line from 

 the water, as by that means fish are often killed that 

 would otherwise be broken from and lost. It is also ne- 

 cessary to cast directly across stream, a few feet above the 

 rising fish, instead of directly up-stream, as in the case 

 of the trout ; ac with a slack line the grayling are apt to 

 reject the fly without being hooked, when under water 

 especially. A gradual drawing motion, when not tempt- 

 ing the fish upon the surface, may be described, until the 

 gut collar reaches the rodster's side of the river. The 

 very largest fish take the fly in a remarkably quiet manner, 

 therefore it is essential to give a slight feeling motion of 

 the wrist at the least possible indication of a rise. A 

 marked characteristic of the grayling is, that he will 

 often unconcernedly permit the lure to go by many times 

 before closing upon it. This is exemplified in a very 

 marked degree in grub fishing, when, after the bait has 

 passed say nineteen times out of twenty, the twentieth 

 by no means infrequently proves successful. 



The accredited theory is, that the constant passage of 

 the lure acts as a sort of ground bait in exciting the at- 

 tention of the fish. Be it so or not, the fact remains that 

 grayling are thus to be taken when not exactly upon the 

 feed, and more especially the larger fish. Frosty nights 

 and genial days bring the flies upon the water, and the 

 delicately fastidious grayling upon the rise in a thorough- 

 ly healthful style ; and if the angler fails then to do con- 

 siderable execution, the fault most assuredly lies at home. 

 One of the best day's grayling fishing we ever experienced 

 was on the Dove, a few miles above Uttoxeter. The 

 water's surface was plentifully besprinkled with the Oc- 

 tober shades of the Iron Blue, every grayling upon the 

 length seemed to have left its accustomed haunt in the 

 bed of the water to regale upon them, and as these fish, 

 in the lower portions of the river, predominate largely 



