3«2 SALMON AND TROUT. 



this flight will, I venture to think, commend itself to those 

 who may give it a practical trial. 



Most of the flights ordinarily used for the purpose s'^nally 

 fail in the first cardinal requirement of making the bait spiii : 

 their highest achievement is a ' wobble ' ; and many of them 

 are, moreover, so arranged as to necessitate a disengagement 

 between the flight and the trace at every change of bait. 

 The latter drawback involves a waste of time, and the former 

 is likely to prove fatal to sport, especially with big fish, as a 

 heavy salmon or trout will rarely follow a bait that is moving 

 very fast away from him, nor, on the other hand, will he 

 freely take one that is not spinning or rotating rapidly enough 

 to conceal the hooks : ergo, with a ' wobbly,' or badly-spinning, 

 bait, the choice lies between obtaining a spin by rowing too 

 fast, or by rowing at the right pace to sacrifice the spin alto- 

 gether. 



The flight I recommend gives, when properly adjusted, a 

 really brilliant spin — not * wobble ' — a spin so good that is, that 

 it will serve its purpose when the boat is moving slow enough 

 for the taste of the biggest and laziest of Sabnonidcz. There 

 are, it will be seen, only two triangles and one lip-hook alto- 

 gether, and they are in the right place — i.e. nearer the tail 

 than the head ; the adjustment to the bait is easy and expedi- 

 tious ; and no time is lost in detaching the flight from the 

 trace (as in the ' Dee ' and other minnow flights) when 

 changing baits. But beyond these advantages, and equal, 

 perhaps, in importance, is the transfer of the lead from the 

 trace, where it is most conspicuous, to the belly of the bait, 

 where it is invisible, and where, moreover, it both puts the 

 weight exactly where it will do its maximum of work, and, 

 at the same time, assists materially in producing the 'spin.' 

 The same flight can, of course, be used minus the lead, but 

 the spin is somewhat less brilliant, and apt on occasions to 

 become irregular. Moreover, it is a rare and altogether ex- 

 ceptional circumstance to meet with water deep enough for 

 trolling at all, which is too shoal to admit of this small lead 



