May-fly Tackle. 97 



for a few days with the fly it has proved deadly. Yet 

 the surface-fishing has done equally well at such times ; 

 and, for sport, one fish taken on the surface is worth ten 

 taken by a method so closely allied to worm-fishing, by 

 the feei only. The great beauty of Fly-fishing is to see 

 your fish before he takes your fly ; which you will gene- 

 rally do, if you watch your fly. This, too, gives you an 

 idea of what resistance you are to expect from the fish, if 

 you hook him ; while the fishing it under the water is 

 but fishing in the dark. 



I prefer a tackle fitted up in any of the ways following 

 to either of the other when trout " fight shy." Use two 

 hooks instead of the arming, the point-hook a No. 3 or 

 4 Limerick, and the lip-hook a No. 2. 



Or, a small triangle for the point and a lip-hook, No. 

 2 Limerick. 



Or, when the fish are very shy, three triangles or 

 double hooks, one at the point to project beyond the fly 

 as in minnow tackle ; these triangles should be very 

 small. Fix the uppermost triangle or double-hook 

 through the head of the fly, the middle one through the. 

 body, and leave the tail one free. 



The only unpleasant thing is, that, when you have 

 netted your fish with these last-mentioned tackles, the 

 triangles or double hooks sometimes get so fixed in the 

 fish, or entangled in the meshes of the net, as to cause 

 you much trouble in dislodging them, and a great waste 

 of time. 



May-flies differ considerably in colour, owing, I ima- 

 gine, to the colour of the gravel among which they are 

 bred. Some are of a fine yellow colour in the body, 

 while others are stone-colour, like the wings. The Jacks 

 are preferred by many for under-water fishing, probably 

 because they more resemble a creeper. The May-fly 

 comes on the streams in Yorkshire and Durham about the 



