THE FISHERMAN'S CALENDAR. 171 



Thames, Trent, Avon, or Ribble, he may secure as many 

 fish as he can carry, if he is industrious, and possesses a 

 fair amount of skill, and attends to these directions. Let him 

 look after his gentles, and try to secure a few bred from a 

 dead rat. The roach are delicate in their appetite, but even 

 the biggest amongst them will look at a fly tipped with a 

 gentle. The best trout lying lazily at the bottom of the 

 stream may be tickled with the same bait, if a shot is added 

 to sink the line, and it is brought up and down and moved 

 by a series of jerks. It is worth while trying, for the trout 

 are iu capital condition. The flies that may be tried are 

 the orange, cinnamon, and the August dun. Some of the 

 earliest flies may be tried with success ; indeed, in some 

 rivers, night is the only time to fish for trout, and the 

 proper baits are black, white, and gray moths. Salmon 

 are not insensible to the charms of a fine moth. Char may 

 be taken with a spinning minnow, and may be tried with a 

 fly. Throughout the month, fish of all kinds are in good 

 condition. 



SEPTEMBER. The salmon-fisher on many of the rivers 

 finds his occupation gone, the fish begin to breed, and 

 should be left quiet. In the early weeks the whirling blue 

 dun, the little pale blue, and the willow-fly may be tried 

 for trout, but they should not be disturbed during the last 

 fortnight in any river. Dace and gudgeon are in demand 

 for trolling purposes, for jack are in fine condition, and bite 

 freely. Perch may be caught by spinning with a moderate- 

 sized dace or minnow if the former is used, a jack is often 

 tempted by it. This is the month for bottom-fishers ; all 

 coarse river fish bite with avidity. Cockroaches and blue 

 bottle-flies have a wonderful charm for the chub in deep 

 holes. Roach will look at the willow-fly, and many kinds 



