NOTE 43 



it so as to alight slightly above the spot marked by a rising trout ; 

 and it is essential that it shall float naturally over the rising fish 

 with wings upstanding, in close imitation of the insect upon which 

 the trout is feeding, as it saUs down the stream, after being either 

 hatched from below, or whisked upon the water by a land breeze. 

 It is an entrancing style of sport, for it requires a knowledge of 

 entomology, of the life history and habits of , the fish, besides the 

 highest skill in the manipulation of rod and line. 



The numbering of hooks has also been changed. There is still 

 a vast amount of unnecessary confusion, but the general practice 

 is to number from the smallest, so that the hook which Blakey 

 would call No. 12 would now be No. 1. This, however, is in 

 general too large a size for the modern dry-fly fisherman, who has 

 to deal with trout that are much shyer and better acquainted 

 with the angler's lures than were their predecessors ; in lieu of 

 No. 1, we have therefore, as the smallest, hooks which appear 

 in the modern notation as 000, 00, and 0, the last being about 

 the calibre of the old No. 17. The numbers 8 and 9 which 

 Blakey recommends are altogether too large for the trout-fishing 

 of the present day. It seems somewhat absurd that hook manu- 

 facturers cannot agree amongst themselves as to a common 

 numbering. 



Some of Blakey's patterns are not known to the fly-fishermen 

 of the present day, but the majority of them are what they were 

 to him, viz. time-honoured favourites. I have not corrected the 

 specification of No. 20, not being certain whether "Bracken-cloth " 

 was what the author meant. He was often careless in his spelling 

 of names, and I suspect he is referring to the Bracken-clock. This 

 is essentially a Devonshire fly, fairly imitating a small beetle-like 

 creature called the Fern Web, which hatches out in the early 

 summer. Another name is the Marlow Buzz. Should any 

 reader of this Note resolve to dress his own flies as an amuse- 

 ment, I should advise him in all cases to correct the dressings 

 of Blakey (which are suitable enough for the bigger and coarser 

 style of fly used in his day), by comparing the details with 

 more recently published books. 



Blakey's worm lore is not to be disputed ; but it may be men- 

 tioned, in anticipation of information given later by the author 

 himself, that the "lob-worm" of the text is also the "dew- 

 worm " of our garden lawns. If the worm-fisher waits until he 

 obtains a proper supply of these baits by digging up his garden, 

 his patience may be unduly taxed. There is a more excellent 

 way : after a shower in the summer, or a dewy night, the worms 

 will be found of their own accord on the surface, and have only 

 to be picked up and placed in a flower-pot filled with damp moss. 



In the list of baits for trout, chub, perch, etc., salmon spawn is 

 included in the original list, and Blakey quotes from Carpenter 

 directions for treatment. The use of salmon roe in angling is 

 now, however, illegal. It was universally condemned as a poach- 

 ing device, and was prohibited by law. One of the few instances 



