AMERICAN TROUT-STREAM INSECTS 



are flat. You can at once recognize in his artificial 

 imitations the class of insects he imitates. 



In Ronalds' "Fly-fisher's Entomology" there is 

 no effort at classification; he simply made a selec- 

 tion of what he thought to be the best flies for each 

 month, giving a full description of them and telling 

 how to imitate them. Ronalds was an exception- 

 ally clever artist, and his representations of both 

 insects and artificials are so perfect that I form 

 from them a better understanding of British 

 aquatic insects than from any others I have seen 

 issued up to the present time. He, like Theakston, 

 tied his own flies with the greatest fidelity to na- 

 ture. 



The plans of these two eminent authorities I con- 

 sider are the best to follow; for every month of our 

 trout season has a distinctly different weather con- 

 dition, and, too, there is a decided difference in our 

 trout insects each month. 



The accompanying page drawing shows a system 

 of separation according to shape and construction 

 of the seven most important classes of trout insects 

 and their creepers, viz. : browns, drakes, duns, spin- 

 ners, beetles, house-flies, and ants. Each of these 

 classes contains many distinct species that differ in 

 size, color, and shape. The monthly colored pages 

 show only a selection of the best and most abundant 

 insects seen upon the water. 



Take, for instance, the order of Ephemera, a 



