228 NOTES ON THE MONTHS FOR FLY-FISHING. 



favourite with trout and grayling, when fully on the 

 water. The fisherman's Black Gnat is a small winged 

 fly, and is not to be confounded with the angler's 

 plagues or pests, so prevalent at the latter part of 

 the season ; indeed, the naturalists aver that it is not 

 a gnat in reality, that term being correct only in the 

 case of the minute black smuts referred to, which 

 resemble nothing better than a fine speck of soot. 

 The copies, however, of the Black Gnat, generally 

 speaking, are much too large, being nearer the size 

 of a Blue Bottle. The same observation also applies 

 to the Iron Blue, the Jenny Spinner, and other small 

 flies. Just when the May fly begins to appear the 

 gnats generally come on in clouds, they being the 

 forerunners of this celebrated fly. 



JUNE. 



As this month opens, the nymphae of the Drake, 

 as a general rule, arrive at a sufficient state of 

 maturity to essay a change of element. They become 

 active prior to the impending change, and by their 

 movements in the bed of the water attract the 

 attention of the trout, which feed upon them for some 

 week or ten days before the great and continued 

 rising. Just as the aquatic insect begins to change 

 into the aerial being, the attention of the fish is not 

 attracted by them. Fish appreciate the quantity as 

 well as the quality of their edibles, therefore, as long 

 as the majority of the insects remain undeveloped 

 in the water, their attention is monopolized by them. 

 When, however, the surface is plenteously laden with 



