36 THE SONG OF THE REEL. 



Of the rivers renowned for big dace the chief are the Avon 

 (Hampshire), Beane, Cam, Colne, Kennet, Lark, Lea, Little Ouse, 

 Rother, Stour (Dorsetshire), Thames, Trent, Ver and Wensum ; 

 whilst mention might also be made of sundry fenland waters, 

 numerous Yorkshire streams, and the large pools of the Welsh Dee, 

 below Llangollen. 



The catalogue of useful flies is almost endless ; but the Red 

 Tag, Coachman, Soldier Palmer, Black Gnat, Light and Dark 

 Woodcock, Wickham's Fancy, Zulu, and the Cock-y-Bondhu form 

 a list of undeniably suitable and effective patterns, even should the 

 various " pet fancies " of individual anglers be unavoidably excluded. 

 A small piece of new wash-leather, or white kid glove, fixed upon 

 the hook, is supposed to add to the attractiveness of the fly, and 

 this is decidedly preferable to the objectionable practice of impaling 

 a maggot on the hook. The use of live-bait is all very well in its 

 proper place ; but a combination of bait and fly-fishing is, to me, 

 at once repulsive and degrading. Dib or float-fish with a maggot 

 at your will. But if, when using the artificial fly, it is impossible 

 to catch fish without so drastic a measure as the substitution of the 

 gentle for the fragment of kid or wash-leather, is it not better, then, 

 to come empty away ? 



Fly-fishing for dace has been recommended to the novice as an 

 introduction to trout angling ; but, personally, I do not agree with 

 this recommendation, since, in my opinion, the two classes of 

 angling are hardly correlative. By fishing for dace the beginner 

 certainly gains some insight into the gentle art of fly-fishing, 

 becoming accustomed to the manipulation of the rod, etc., but 

 beyond this he learns little or nothing concerning the special art of 

 trout-angling. 



Perhaps a comparison of these two branches of fly-fishing 

 a comparison based upon personal experience may be of some 

 interest. 



In the first place, dace are more difficult to hook than trout, 

 for a reason previously given the celerity with which the former 

 fish take in and reject the fly. But the effect of this characteristic 



