May-fly Tackle and Baiting. 93 



greatest nicety, however, is required in throwing, to 

 avoid whipping it off, as well as to fish with it scientifi- 

 cally. There are two general methods of fishing the 

 May-fly, namely, above and under the water. To fish it 

 successfully, above or on the surface of the water, requires 

 some practice to accomplish properly ; but when the re- 

 quisite nicety in throwing is attained, the Angler will 

 experience such a degree of pleasurable excitement in 

 fishing it on the surface as words can but feebly de- 

 scribe. 



Of the two methods of fishing the May-fly the surface 

 has the preference, for when you fish it on the top of the 

 water you see your fly and your fish ; while in the under- 

 water fishing you have, nine times out of ten, to strike 

 when you feel the fish, but do not see him. This latter 

 mode is little better than worm or lob fishing ; while the 

 former equals, if it does not exceed, the pleasure derived 

 from artificial Fly-fishing. 



To prepare your tackle for this fly, take a Limerick hook, 

 No. 4 or 5, and whip it on to a fine round piece of silk- 

 worm gut with yellow silk. To this tie a stinting of the 

 same, dyed green, about a yard and a half long, round 

 and fine, as the lighter the stinting the less liable it will 

 be to drown your fly, or draw it under the water. 

 Attach to this a good taper casting-line, which loop to 

 your reel-line ; the casting-line should be a little heavier 

 than common, as it will assist in carrying out the heavy 

 fly without using too much force, which would only 

 whip it off, if the back sweep in throwing were not care- 

 fully made. Then, taking the body of your fly between 

 the finger and thumb of your left hand, the wings 

 touching your thumb and the head standing clear, insert 

 the point of the hook through the thick part of the 

 shoulder, so as to come out at the opposite side. The 

 width of the fly should just fill the bend of the hook, 



