TROUT FISHING. 
167 
thunder and play of the lightning flash too near to he pleasant, 
awed by the majesty of nature, he will have time to speculate 
on the origin of storms, the length of their duration, whence they 
come, whither they will go. Or, perhaps, far away amongst the 
hills he becomes enveloped in a fog, and having quitted the 
river will travel in a circle, wandering hither and thither in his 
hope to find a path homewards, unless he has thoughtfully pro- 
vided himself with a compass. Or if he has been night fishing, 
capturing the large trout with the dead minnow, as the least 
dawn of light appears he has to forsake his work, and being in 
a low-lying situation often finds he is surrounded with dense 
mist, which, when he arrives home some way further up stream, 
and looking back, appears like masses of cotton wool stuffed 
into the valley ; then is he led to think of the origin of mists 
and clouds, and their use in the economy of nature. 
Our fisherman next must be somewhat of an entomologist. 
The chief food of trout is flies, and these, or representations of 
them, must be his principal bait. “ What fly shall I use ? ” is 
the question that presents itself to him as he goes to his fishing 
haunts. This is soon answered by the experienced hand; he 
has long ago reduced his list of artificial flies to a small number 
— I never use more than six myself — and the weather, state of 
the water, and time of year will determine which are the suitable 
ones. But beyond these few, which but indifferently represent 
anything in nature, what numbers of various flies frequent the 
rivers. Let anyone carefully look at the surface of any stream 
on a fine summer’s day, and he will soon be convinced of this. 
Some are so small that it requires sharp eyes to detect them ; 
though unseen to most men they do not escape the eye of the 
trout or of the fisherman. The angler, too, must gain some 
knowledge about worms and grubs, and distinguish those suit- 
able for his use. 
Next he will be in some degree an anatomist. When he has 
laboured long on some unfavourable day and at last taken a 
fish, he will sometimes cut him open to examine the contents of 
the stomach and thus learn what fly to use. Beginners fre- 
quently do this, but the old hand knows readily enough the right 
fly, as I have said. 
As it may be asked what flies I do use, I will give my list, 
which is for rivers in South Devon, where I have principally 
fished, but I have used these successfully in North Devon, 
Somersetshire, in Switzerland, and in Germany : — 
I, Blue Upright; 2, Infallible; 3, March Brown; 4, Red 
Palmer ; 5, Silver Twist ; 6, Black Palmer. 
No. I is par excellence the fly for South Devon, and may be 
used all the season, but is essential when the water is bright 
and low ; it is really a grey fly. No. 2 is a change from No. i, 
but not so good a fly. No. 3 is a capital fly in the early part of 
the season. No. 4 invaluable in the summer months ; this fly 
should have a black head. No. 5 for use when the water is 
