CHALK-STREAM FISHING WITH DRY FLY. 349 



the hotter the sun the better does this fly succeed. It is not 

 generally known that when trout are * smutting ' — i.e. feeding on 

 that tiny black midge which baffles all imitation — they will 

 often take a small red tag ravenously. On one of the hottest 

 days in August 1884, fishing at midday, I hooked eight large 

 trout with the red tag, and this on a piece of water which it 

 was usually considered hopeless to fish before dusk. As for 

 grayling, when they are lying basking on the gravel in about 

 two feet of water, the red tag will almost always bring them up. 

 I have had splendid sport with it on many occasions. This is 

 the dressing : 



Body : Peacock herl, short and fat, with a tiny red tag of floss 

 silk, wool, or scarlet ibis feather. Floss silk looks very 

 well when it is dry, but it shrinks up when wet, and 

 often loses its colour ; I have always found wool much 

 more killing. 



At the shoulder should be wound a dark, rich, red 

 hackle. 



Hook^ o, 00, or 000. 



XVII. THE JENNY SPINNER. 

 (Fig. xvii. p. 344.) 



This is the transformation of the iron-blue dun, and is one 

 of the most beautiful and delicate flies to be found by riverside. 

 It is often seen dancing up and down in thousands after a hot 

 day, and the fact that it is by no means uncommon on rivers 

 where the iron blue is scarce, leads me to think that some other 

 summer duns (possibly the little sky blue) turn to this delicate 

 transparent spinner. It is impossible to see it on the water, 

 and at best it is a most difficult fly to imitate. For these two 

 reasons sport with it is somewhat uncertain. 



It should be dressed with a detached body of white 

 horsehair tipped with a couple of turns of mulberry silk 

 and white whisks. Tie the body to a 00 or 000 hook 

 with mulberry coloured silk to show the head and thorax 



