FLIES FISHING SEASON. 57 



part of the stream below St. Albans, and 

 between that and Watford, I have some- 

 times, even as early as April, caught fish in 

 good condition: but the true season for the 

 Colne is the season of the May fly. The 

 same may be said of most of the large 

 English rivers containing large trouts, and 

 abounding in May fly: such as the Test 

 and the Kennet ; the one running by Stock- 

 bridge, the other by Hungerford. But in 

 the Wandle at Garshalton and Beddington, 

 the May fly is not found ; and the little 

 blues are the constant, and when well imi- 

 tated, killing flies on * this water; to which 

 may be joined a dark alder fly, and a red 

 evening fly. In the Avon, at Ringwood and 

 Fordingbridge, the May fly is likewise a 

 killing fly; but as this is a grayling river, 

 the other flies, particularly the grannam and 

 blue and brown, are good in spring, and the 

 alder fly or pale blue later, and the blue 

 dun in September and October, and even 

 November. In the streams in the moun- 

 tainous parts of Britain, the spring and 

 autumnal flies are by far the most killing. 



