Chapter IV. 

 DUNS, SPINNERS, Scc—EPHEMERIDM. 



Plate 4. 



The first to claim the would-be angler's attention, and 

 one which has probably been more successfully imitated 

 and generally used than any, is the March Brown shewn in 

 fig. 36. There are several varieties which go by this name, 

 and they vary considerably in size and shade, but the 

 general characteristics are the same, mottled wings, 

 yellow and brown body, and long tails. It is dressed in all 

 sizes, from the smallest trout to salmon flv, and being 

 typical of a mottled insect, does equally well in all. 



At times a variation in pattern kills better than the 

 normal pattern, a gilt body is useful on a bright day, and a 

 dyed claret hackle is a useful addition in a high water. 



Fig. 37 is an Early Olive Dun, and being of a typical 

 insect colour, does equal execution to the March Brown, 

 and appears early in April. After a few days it changes 

 into a Brown and Yellow Spinner, as shewn on fig. 38. 



Fig. 39 is the Large Red Spinner, which is the imago of 

 the March Brown. We were never satisfied with the 

 success of the dressing of the Spinners, either as imitations 

 or lures, until we hit on the device of using various 

 bright coloured hackles to suggest the colour of their wings ; 

 in this way a suggestion of the beauty of this iridescent 

 effect may be obtained, and the result has quite justified 

 the experiment. By coloured hackles are meant fibres of 



39 



