4 8 



exhibits several hundreds of eggs fastened together in 

 regular order, arranged apparently in strings, and the strings 

 wound firmly into a ball. These eggs are deposited in the 

 water and when, in due time, they are hatched, the young 

 larvae crawl under stones and other places where shelter can 

 be found. They prefer the running parts of rivers to the 

 deeps, and any little eddy will suit them. Whilst the insects 

 are in this state trout feed ravenously upon them, the surface 

 food which the fish get up to the middle of May being a mere 

 fraction of the amount they pick up in the way of insect larvae, 

 of which that of the stone-fly is at all times and in all rivers 

 where it exists their favourite. When the larvae of the stone- 

 fly are just assuming the pupae state preparatory to becoming 

 perfect flies they crawl out of the water and take shelter under 

 the edges of stones near the water's edge. At that time, 

 with the exception of the stone-fly itself, and that is not 

 much more killing, the pupae or creepers are the most mag- 

 nificent baits you can set before a trout. 



It is commonlystated that Yorkshire trout will not take the 

 creeper. To speak plainly this is, out and out, arrant nonsense. 

 The writer has himself fished it successfully and regularly on 

 the Wharfe, and it only needs to be fished properly and at 

 the right time to convince anglers that it is simply 

 irresistible. Why, indeed, should the trout in Yorkshire 

 rivers differ from any other ? They take the stone-fly 

 ravenously ; why not the creeper, which is only another 

 form of that fly ? It is fished on the Kibble ; it is univer- 

 sally fished on the Eden ; and it is fished on the Scotch 

 rivers, 'having been introduced there by Carlisle anglers 

 who were laughed at for their pains. But the laughter 

 turned to wonder when at the day's close the creeper- 

 fishers had twice as many fish as the fly fishers. 



There is only one part of the season at which the creeper 

 is of use to the angler, and that is when in the course of 



