200 SALMON AND TROUT. 
it is my belief he will take a fly of any pattern when he is in the 
humour, provided it is of a proper size. Size has more to do 
with success than all the patterns of flies ever invented. Even 
if a fly is of the right colour too ‘big’ a salmon will not take 
it. He may rise at it, and probably get ‘ rugged’ and will then 
be seen no more. The choice of a fly of suitable size is a very 
important matter, but I will allude to this hereafter. 
I now come to the question of certain shades and colours. 
being more suitable than others upon certain days. I have 
no doubt a salmon will occasionally prefer a fly of a certain 
colour to any other, although I do not admit he would 
refuse to take a fly of another colour, when he is in the 
humour, if it were offered to him. IJ remember upon one occa- 
sion watching a cross-line at work upon the Blackwater, when 
I noticed one fly take fish after fish, all the others, eleven in 
number, failing to rise one. I cannot think this was accidental ; 
probably the appearance of the fly, under a peculiar condition 
of light, was the attraction. Whether the fish would have 
taken any of the other flies if that particular pattern had not 
been upon the cross-line I cannot say, but I am inclined to 
think, from what I know of their habits, they would have 
done so. 
Ifit is taken for granted that a salmon prefers a fly of one 
colour to another upon certain days, the difficulty is to find out 
the right colour, and I think a great deal of time would be wasted 
in the endeavour to do so. All we can do is to select the fly we 
fancy will take, and ir it is of the right size, and if any fish are 
on the move, we are not often disappointed. There are certain 
facts, however, which, to a certain extent, may guide us in the 
choice of a fly. I have tried the experiment of holding up flies 
of different colours against the sky, putting myself in the posi- 
tion a salmon would occupy with regard to each fly as it was held 
up. The result was that, with a bright blue sky as a background, 
T could see every colour fairly well, with the exception of light 
blue and a jay hackle, which I could not distinguish. With an 
overcast sky as a background, and a clear atmosphere, I could 
