374 



CRAWFISH AND PBAWNS 



a good eating-fish, but I would rather have a trout or some 

 other kinds of fish. They have a peculiar flavor, such as I 

 have never tasted before ; the flesh is firm and coarse-grained, 

 and is as free of bone as a trout." 



" They rise at a fly as readily as a trout, and make a good 

 fight before you land them. 



" They take the same kind of flies that trout do ; a No. 6 

 hook is about the right size, but I caught them on flies tied 

 on No. 4 and up to No. 12." 



" Their growth is very rapid," says an English writer. 

 " The grayling hatched in June becomes in the same year, in 

 October or November, nine or ten inches long, and weighs 

 from half a pound to ten ounces ; and the year after they are 

 from twelve to fifteen inches long, and weigh from three- 

 quarters of a pound to one pound ; and these two sizes are 

 the fish that most usually rise to the fly." 



Undoubtedly the grayling is a great acquisition to the lover 

 of fly-fishing. Being a tenant of the same stream as the 

 trout, coming in season long after the pleasures of trouting 

 are over, and jumping readily and perseveringly at the same 

 description of flies, they will ever be a source of great enjoy- 

 ment to those who love to ply the gentle art by the brook- 

 side. 



CRAWFISH AND PRAWNS, 

 Palcemon serratus. 



" Get some prawns, cheese, and macaroni, and live," said a 

 Southerner once to u Northerner. These little subjects of 

 our discourse are not angle-fish, but, aB the little darkey said, 

 " They are mighty good for bait." The crawfish is nothing 

 more nor less than a miniature lobster, and grows at the. 

 South as large as four and five inches, and is a good bait 



