8o AN ANGLER'S HOURS v 



the chances are that he will find himself 

 continuously putting on new flies in place 

 of those which he has whipped or struck off. 

 But those who can use the finest tackle will 

 catch most fish. With regard to flies, they 

 must be small, but it does not very much 

 matter what pattern one uses if the fish are 

 rising. It is a mistake to carry too many 

 varieties, as it leads to the difficulty of 

 making up one's mind. If I were restricted 

 to half a dozen patterns, I should choose 

 the Coachman, black gnat, Wickham, red 

 tag, Brunton's fancy, and soldier palmer. 

 But this again is only private prejudice ; 

 there are many other flies equally good. 



We next come to the question of where 

 and how to fish. Dace are usually on 

 shallows in summer, and it is there that most 

 will be caught, but in some rivers there are 

 few shallows and the fish are in deep water. 

 In the latter case it is no use fishing for 

 them unless they can be seen rising, and 

 even then they will only take a dry fly as a 

 rule. On the shallows a wet fly is often as 

 good as a dry one, sometimes better ; if 

 there is much wind it is decidedly better. 

 Taking dace-fishing all in all, however, my 



