SCRAP. 181 



And before trout-flies leave the river bottom to 

 sport in the upper element, they are full grown and 

 complete, and we have often taken them thus grown 

 and winged out of their semi-transparent cases, 

 formed of a skin resembling gelatine, even in the 

 late autumn. When we see trout leaping and 

 feeding en masse on flies, the " take is on," as 

 anglers term it. and thousands of flies may be seen 

 floating and eddying on the surface, their wings 

 standing erect like tiny sails. The sudden rise of 

 the flies from the bottom to the surface is the cause 

 of the " take, 5 ' and from this it would appear that 

 from the few minutes they inhale the air before 

 being crushed in the maw of the trout, they acquire 

 a richer flavour than they possess in the water. 



It is believed that all trout flies are produced 

 from eggs dropped into the water; and we can 

 speak of one fly we have often seen in the act of 

 dropping eggs the stonefly. This fly drops its 

 eggs near the edges of streams, not pools. The fly 

 leaves terra firma, where it runs among the grass 

 blades that float or overhang the river, and paddles 

 into the stream a few feet, sometimes a yard or two, 

 dropping its small black eggs the while, which by 

 their specific gravity speedily reach the bottom and 

 settle beneath stones. The fly repeats this process 



