CHOICE OF PATTERN 87 



The votary of the old standards should, when the 



olive or dark olives are up, 



Old standard patterns make his selection from the 



for early spring, dark or medium olive quills, 



either winged or the hackle 

 varieties of these patterns. The gold-ribbed hare's- 

 ears, either winged or hackle, is perhaps all round 

 the most successful old standard for the fisherman in 

 April and, in fact, throughout the season. It has 

 always been my theory that it is a fair representation 

 of a dun in the act of disentangling itself from the 

 nymphal shuck. It is a moot point whether it is 

 good tactics to fish it over bulging trout, and in a 

 later chapter some remarks will be found showing the 

 deleterious effect of hammering away at these fish 

 feeding almost entirely on the nymphs. 



The rise in the early spring is, as before remarked, 

 generally a short one. It may commence at ten, 

 eleven, one, or even two o'clock, and last perhaps a 

 few minutes one day, and on another with seemingly 

 identical climatic conditions for as long as two or three 

 hours. Temperature, direction or force of the wind, 

 rain, sunshine, and even snow do not seem to affect 

 the hour of its commencement or the length of its 

 duration. There is only one golden rule to follow, 

 viz. to start at a comparatively early hour in the 

 morning and remain at the river-side until sunset, and 

 in hot summer weather even later than that, and as 

 long as the angler's fly floating on the water can be 

 seen. 



