98 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



champions, although all of those given in " Dry-Fly 

 Entomology " are good. 



As shown in the second part of this book the green 



drake or subimago sheds the 

 Spent gnat. whole of its outer skin and 



emerges an imago or perfect 

 insect. The imago of the various species of Ephe- 

 mera used to be, and is often still, most inappropriately 

 styled a spent gnat by the angling community. Some 

 time after it has voided all its eggs, the female falls 

 almost lifeless on the water, and at this stage is 

 greedily taken by the feeding fish. The great fall 

 of spent gnat usually occurs on deep, slow reaches of 

 the river on a calm and mild afternoon or evening, 

 and the trout feeding on it are close to the surface, 

 moving slowly and taking several flies in succession 

 with a curious sounding y?!?/. They are very shy and 

 easily scared, so that here again the waiting game and 

 very occasional delicate casts with perfectly dry fly 

 are necessary. The rise does not as a rule last long, 

 so that there must be no mistakes if the angler 

 expects a big bag. 



It is at times a good policy to try fish with the 

 spent gnat during the morning, and fish will also rise 

 to it for a week or so after the hatch of the fly is over. 

 The male spent gnat is specially useful at this time 

 because, as shown in reference to the smaller Ephe- 

 meridcCj the male imagines are polygamous and do 

 not fall in great numbers on the water or land until 

 the ova of all the females have been fertilized. 



