50 NORTH-COUNTRY FLIES. 



the river is a little swollen, you may use a single shot to 

 keep your bait well below the surface. Cast behind stones 

 round which the river swirls and eddies, and do not strike 

 too quickly ; give a couple of seconds after you see your 

 line stop in its passage down the river, and then strike 

 hard. You will find fish take your creeper well also at the 

 thin edges of the rivers anywhere, in fact where your own 

 perception tells you that the intelligence or instinct of the 

 trout will lead them in search of this dainty food. And 

 the fish you get with it will, as a rule, be the largest fish 

 you have. 



The stone-fly is fished pretty much in the same way and 

 the same places, but the majority of anglers prefer a little 

 fresh in the rivers, and the writer is amongst them. In 

 fishing it, if there is any wind at all, it is essential that it 

 should be up-stream. Sufficient has been said about the 

 creeper to indicate the character and habits of this winged 

 transformation, and it is fortunate for the angler that the 

 fly is easily caught as it sits sluggishly or runs upon 

 stones or tree trunks near the edge of the water. In a 

 favourable season, the 2Oth of May may be taken as 

 approximately the date of his first appearance. It has 

 already been noticed that there is a great difference betwixt 

 the size of the male and the female flies. Theakston is 

 emphatic in his recommendation of the female as a bait, 

 but it can be shown that the males, familiarly known as 

 Jacks, are to be preferred. Not, perhaps, that a trout will 

 not take one as well as the other, but there are con- 

 siderations which will appear, which make it advantageous 

 to fish the jacks, and to fish one hook only, as shown in the 

 illustration on plate 12. Get a No. 4 hook, whipped on to 

 fine gut ; insert the point underneath the thorax, pointing 

 the head up the line, and run the hook right down the body 

 of the jack, bringing the point and barb out at the lower 



