PART V 



WHAT 



FLIES AS FOOD 



A general survey of the circumstances, stages, and con- 

 ditions in which the insects which serve the trout as food 

 may be preferably simulated or represented may not be 

 amiss. 



The larvae of the Ephemeridae have been classed as 

 digging larvae (of which the May fly larva is an example), 

 flat larvae (of which the larva of the March brown, clinging 

 to the bottom and hiding under stones, is the most obvious), 

 swimming larvae, and crawling larvae. 



The digging larvae are hidden from the trout until as 

 nymphs they crawl up into the weeds and let themselves go 

 into the current preparatory to hatching out as winged 

 flies. This, then, is the only subaqueous stage in which 

 they are exposed to the trout and can legitimately be 

 simulated or suggested by the fly-fisherman. In the 

 winged stages they are surface flies either floating with 

 upright wings or flat with wings outspread, damaged, or 

 spent or dipping on the surface if egg-laying. 



The flat larvae, of which the March brown is the most 

 prominent example, can seldom in normal times be seen 

 by the trout, since they hide under stones and seldom 

 venture out till the time comes for their ascent to the 

 surface to hatch out. Probably when there is a spate 



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