146 A few General Remarks on Angling. 



Fish generally bite well in dark, lowering, close, 

 warm, gloomy weather ; or in a gentle whistling wind 

 which curls the water ; or in fine soft misling rain or 

 dew, or after a sudden smoking shower. 



When the night proves very light, and the next day 

 dark and windy, and the water is in condition, you are 

 likely to have good sport, for the best fish stir no more 

 in light nights than in bright days. 



From Michaelmas till April fish bite best in the 

 warmest part of the day, in the deeps at the bottom, the 

 air being clear and no wind stirring; after April, the 

 colder the day, fish the nearer the bottom ; the hotter 

 the day, the nearer the top. 



Most fish, in most places, bite earlier in a mild, warm, 

 forward spring, than in a cold, backward one ; and later 

 in autumn, as the weather is hotter or colder : and, both 

 spring and autumn, earlier in a warm day than in a cold 

 one, and in the sunshine better than the shade. . 



In summer all fish bite keener and better in swift, 

 rapid, stony, gravelly rivers, than in such as run gently, 

 and have slimy, muddy bottoms. 



When you fish in thick, large, or dark waters, use a 

 large-bodied fly; when in small, clear streams, the 

 smallest flies ought to be used. 



In frost, snow, or exceeding cold weather in the 

 spring, use the smallest bloas'and gnats, if the water be 

 'clear; and the clearer and smaller the water, the less 

 must be your flies. 



Beech trees, as I have been well informed, were never 

 known to be struck by lightning ; therefore, if caught in 

 a thunderstorm, seek their shelter in preference to any 

 other kind of tree. 



