CHAPTER VI 



THE GRAYLING 



Thb grayling is a fish bearing considerable resemblance 

 to the trout, and chiefly abounds in the rivers of 

 Derbyshire and Yorkshire ; in the Teme, near Ludlow ; 

 and in the Lugg, and other streams in the vicinity of 

 Leominster. Its general shape is rather longer, and 

 more slender than the trout, particularly towards the 

 tail ; the head is small, and the eyes very protuberant. 

 The sides of the fish are of a beautiful silvery grey, 

 with numerous dark stripes of a longitudinal shape. 

 He is a keen and ready feeder, and rises readily at the 

 fly, and is partial to worms and maggots. Indeed, all 

 kinds of water insects afford him sustenance, as well as 

 the roe of other kinds of fish. Walton says : " Of 

 grubs for grayling, the ash-grub, which is plump, milk- 

 white, bent round from head to tail, and exceedingly 

 tender, with a round head ; or the dock-worm, or grub 

 of a pale yellow, longer, lanker, and tougher than the 

 other, with rows of feet all down his belly, and a red 

 head also, are the best — I say for grayling, because 

 although a trout will take both these, and the ash- 

 grub especially, yet he does not do it so freely as the 

 other, and I have usually taken ten graylings for one 

 trout with that bait ; though if a trout come, I have 

 observed that he is commonly a very good one." 



The best months for angling for grayling are 

 September, October, and November. The larger kinds 

 of this fish are partial to deep water, into which there 

 is a gentle stream running. The smaller ones, which 



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