82 A SCOTTISH FLY-FISHER 



which constitute the staple diet of the trout, but it is 

 a much closer approximation to the truth than he is 

 likely to find in the lure dressed with superfluous organs 

 of flight. It may, too, without doing violence to the 

 angler's reason, or insulting the intelligence of the trout, 

 be fished at any depth ; near the bottom, towards the 

 surface, or midway between. 



Some time ago, desirous of trying a small experi- 

 ment, I fished during an entire week with hackles alone. 

 The experiment was conducted on a loch, and I fished 

 in the usual way, permitting my flies to rest a moment 

 in the water, and then drawing them slowly towards 

 me. They were always an inch or two beneath the 

 surface. The result more than justified my expectations. 

 The conditions were unfavourable — or fish were few — 

 and sport was poor, but I succeeded in taking twice the 

 number of trout killed by any other angler on the 

 water. The incident does not, of course, afford conclu- 

 sive evidence of the superiority of the hackle, but it 

 proves beyond a doubt that the efficacy of the fly is in 

 no way impaired by the absence of wings. I certainly 

 do not ascribe my comparative success, great as it was, 

 to the use of the lures I employed ; I am satisfied, 

 indeed, that I should have taken almost, if not quite, 

 as many fish with those in general use. To the fish 



