154 CREEPER FISHING. 



20th of the latter of these months. Stone-flies were 

 in abundance at the time, and we tried both these 

 and the creeper carefully for an hour or two, but 

 finding the latter by far the deadliest of the two, 

 we stuck by it to the end of the day. We have 

 tried the same baits in a like manner several times 

 since with the same result ; but of this more here- 

 after. 



" Up in the morning early " must be the angler 

 who would be successful with the creeper at the be- 

 ginning of the season ; for, frosty or fresh, it is then 

 most deadly before the first glimmer of the sun 

 strikes the water ; only that is generally an hour or 

 two after sunrise. After the sun is up a fair number 

 of trouts may be taken down to about 9 or 10 a.m., 

 when the artificial fly is preferable. By the beginning 

 of May, however, a change in this respect gradually 

 begins to establish itself, until, by mid-May a tctal 

 reverse has taken place. From that period until the 

 end of the season, the best time for creeper-fishing 

 is from about 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For success, how- 

 ever, the water must be low and clear, otherwise the 

 creeper will prove useless. A two-inch swell, though 

 the water remain quite clear, will cause the trouts to 

 stop taking it; and this we have found to be the 

 case over and over again, both in the Tweed and 



