60 IN THE VALE OF 



a mere amateur angler, did not do as well 

 as we might and could have done had circum- 

 stances been more in our favour. It is not 

 much of a May Fly stream, but they are there 

 and the trout take them well. You may, 

 however, walk the stream for a long time with- 

 out seeing one ; there is nothing like what we 

 have been used to on the Itchen or what one 

 hears of on the Colne, so that one can fish with 

 any other fly in the May Fly time with just as 

 good a chance as with a fancy May Fly. The 

 trout were not specially attracted by or gorged 

 with it, and apparently our own success, such 

 as it was, would have been just what it was had 

 there been no May Fly at all. The imitations 

 we used mostly were the various kinds of May 

 Fly, the Alder, and Olive Dun, and what they 

 call the Buzzy, generally known as the Spent 

 Gnat all hackle for wings and bodies. I had 

 some very nice ones made by Mr. James Ogden, 

 and which I have taken the liberty of calling 

 " Ragged Robin," as they somewhat resemble 

 that pretty field flower. I regard it as a telling 

 name, and I hereby present it to the makers. 



For the first three or four days the weather 

 was favourable. We had some rain, and we 



