STUDY THE WEATHER. 387 



of local surroundings all of which puzzle us now and again, and I desire 

 to urge that these matters must be separately considered in stream and 

 other fishing, else the flies chosen will serve only to catch the eye and 

 not the fish. 



It will be apparent that, in the economy of nature, heat and cold 

 play parts of the utmost importance to the Angler, for the disposition of 

 the Salmon is amenable to all climatic vicissitudes. Certainly a rapid 

 change to cold, if taken in time, is not so productive of mischief as in the 

 case of the weather turning suddenly hot. The fish will cease to show, 

 but not to take ; and it will be found that, for sport, the morning is better 

 than the afternoon. Sudden heat, as I will explain, has a different effect 

 upon them. 



Now, the safest principle for the Angler to adopt, according to my 

 experience, is to increase the size of the fly, and decrease the gaudy 

 materials in proportion as the air gets suddenly colder. This is my rule, 

 and it appears to hold good at nearly all seasons of the year. But when 

 the day turns suddenly hot, in which case with a rising barometer 

 Catches, hitherto barren of splashes and rings, show signs of life and 

 animation, the occupants, as a rule, are restless and seem indisposed 

 to look at any fly for the time being. They will leap high out of the 

 water to fall back tail first, flounder sideways to come down with a smack 

 often heard two or three 'hundred yards away. Still, however much 

 some fish may be thus inclined to revive themselves, it would be quite an 

 error to consider that the difficulty is very much increased in catching 

 others, which, though located in the same pool or stream, are not quite so 

 restless. It may be taken that any sensible degree of rise, as measured 

 by the thermometer, should lead you to adopt widely different plans. 

 You reduce or enlarge the size according to circumstances. For instance, 

 up to the end of March, not once in twenty years will you have occasion 

 from the exigencies of increased temperature alone, to come down more 

 than two sizes. But the change coming in the month of May, when fish 

 generally begin to "sport" is a signal pointing in two directions; (1) to 

 reduce the size of the fly on most rivers by more than one half ; (2) to 

 increase (as much as you can in reason) the comparative gaudiness. Once 

 on the Dee, when fishing under such conditions in May, 1895, I came 



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