ON RAPID STREAMS. 129 



which much resembles the latter, and the blowing 

 fly, will any of them kill. I may here also men- 

 tion grasshoppers, of which trout are very fond, 

 and eagerly snatch at them and the wood-louse. 

 Now in the use of these natural flies, we must re- 

 member that we are limited to one principle only, 

 and that is deception. Displaying the real fly to 

 tempt the trout, we cautiously conceal the hook to 

 which it is attached, the gut, line, rod, and its 

 owner ; this in still water is not always easy, but 

 we are much assisted by banks and bushes, or trees. 

 To fish with these flies or grasshoppers, have a 

 collar as long as your rod, and of the very finest 

 gut you can obtain; let the rod be light in hand, 

 with top active, and stiff towards the butt, its 

 length fourteen feet. A double-actioned rod is a 

 sad source of trouble. The size of the hook, No. 7. 

 The line should be very light. You can put on one 

 or two flies; one is enough, just hitching him up 

 by the back, with his legs downwards and wings 

 free, that he may look as nearly natural as pos- 

 sible. You cannot conveniently throw over-hand, 

 as by such movement your fly will be whisked off; 

 but you must content yourself by stealing along- 

 side the stream, and just dropping your fly in 

 over any deep pit or hole, under any bush or by 

 any stone, that will hold a large trout. Weir 

 pools, where the water is still, and which have 

 bushes by their sides amongst which you can 

 conceal yourself, are perhaps the best places for 

 this kind of work. Should a little air be stirring, 

 you should take advantage of its direction, and 



