74 THE WAY OF A TROUT WITH A FLY 



ear when the large spring medium olive dun is hatching, 

 and the Whirling Blue dun for the big autumn olive. 



Often, of course, the insistence of the fish is upon closer 

 likenesses. Yet it is my constant experience that on such 

 waters a minute variation makes the difference between 

 failure and success. 



For instance, in July, 1919, the July dun was coming up 

 freely on the Itchen, and I was introducing a guest to the 

 water. He put up a fly which to all appearance was a 

 close imitation. Dark starling wings, yellow silk body 

 ribbed with fine gold wire, and greenish-yellow olive hackle 

 and whisk. He was an excellent fisherman, and he spent 

 a full quarter of an hour over a vigorous trout, never putting 

 him down or scaring him. Out of my experience I had 

 made him tender of a pattern of July dun, which differed 

 from his only in having the body silk clothed with pale 

 blue heron herl, dyed the same colour as the silk, a dirty 

 greenish-yellow olive, but he had refused with the remark 

 that his fly was " near enough." After a while he said to 

 me: " Well, give him a chance at your fly, since you think 

 it better." The first time my fly covered the trout he 

 had it, and my friend netted out a nice two pound six 

 ounce trout. He then accepted another fly similarly tied, 

 and putting it on got the next two fish he tried directly 

 he covered them. 



I have had too many similar experiences to have any 

 doubt about the matter. 



Of course, the Itchen is a river which breeds and main- 

 tains a large quantity of fly-food. In rough rivers where 

 fly food is scarce I can understand that the fish will often 

 rise at any fly or any suggestion of a fly which comes over 

 them. But even there, when there is a rise or fall of an 

 acceptable species of fly, I have known occasions when the 

 trout refused everything but a fairly satisfactory repre- 



