June 3, 1893] 
THE EISHING GAZETTE 
413 
the afternoon, and was just preparing to pack up 
and start for the train, when the happy idea 
occurred to him, as a last chance, to change 
his May-fly for one of the tiniest pattern, with 
the aforesaid result of hooking the three-pounder. 
I was present at the capture, and the fish pulled 
and bored to such an extent that I, never dream¬ 
ing of so large a one, told my friend it must be 
foul-hooked. 
When a man is a born fisherman his love of 
sport dies hard, so they say, whoever they may be. 
An old friend has just been staying with us, areal 
veteran fly-fisher, who told us his education with 
the rod commenced in 1828. He is now eighty- 
four, can still throw a good line, and killed his 
three and a half brace in two days, with which he 
declared himself quite content. And well he 
might be, for I wonder how many of us younger 
men will have the strength of arm and clear eye¬ 
sight to guide a fly without the aid of glasses when 
we are eighty-four. South West was looking on 
at him, and remarked that a good number of the 
younger generation of fishermen might have 
taken a wrinkle from the masterly manner in 
which he stood well back from the bank and rose 
and killed his fish. He was using a Hardy split 
cane rod of 10ft. 6in., a new purchase that I 
recommended to him last year. I was very glad 
to see that it answered so well, as it was with 
great reluctance he discarded his Chevalier rod 
that had sei’ved him faithfully for sixty-five 
years. 
He is, and has ever been, a busy man, work¬ 
ing much with his brain, and he told us that 
through life he had pi’actised fishing and shooting 
as a means of health. Sport has evidently served 
him well, for a more haleand hearty old gentleman 
it would be hard to find either up or down 
the river. His memory is wonderful, and he 
amused us by relating the bad farming years 
of the century, and came to the conclusion 
that this season would run the worst of them 
pretty close. Even the water meadows are dry 
enough for ladies to walk on, but, fortunately, 
the streams keep up a fair head of water, though 
how they manage to do so is a mystery. There 
are plenty of fish, good ones too, but who can 
expect to hook them with a wind down stream. 
In the mornings the fish take the small fly very 
well, especially Bed Quill Gnat. The May-fly has 
rarely risen before lj..30, when there is a good 
sprinkling, though not anything like the swarm I 
saw one day last week hovering over and about 
Fullerton Bridge. Possibly we have not seen 
our head day yet. 
^ As far as I can glean, the members of the 
( hilbolton Fishing Association, barring one or 
two locals, have not done very much. I fancy 
the rods have been rather too thick, for on Whit 
Monday they were so close together that the 
water looked like a pegged-down match on the 
Thames. At Hornsey the May-fly was up about 
the 5th, and was of very short duration ; several 
large trout were however taken, one weighing 
5|lb., and another 4|lb. This is out and out the 
worst season for salmon they have ever had on 
the Broadlands water, and a friend of mine has 
been out fourteen times without catching a single 
one. 
But there is a great deal of luck in the matter. 
Now it could only have been luck that enabled 
one fisherman on our water the day before yester¬ 
day to catch seven fish, whilst another equally 
good man only got one small one. And both had 
light lines, which are more difficult to manipulate 
than the stouter ones in the heavy north-easters. 
Indeed, a very experienced angler, the one who 
caught the six brace on Thursday, declares that 
a bad wind effects a stiff rod hardly at all. 
According to him, there is nothing better for 
May-fly fishing than a north-east wind, a stiff rod, 
and a line suitable to it. But then the great 
G. S. M. can accomplish feats well-nigh im¬ 
possible to lesser folk, who, on following his 
footsteps, might not always meet with the same 
success. It is not every one that has such a 
powerful forefinger for working a rod. Another 
fisherman on the Chilbolton water, who had an 
excellent day’s sport last Friday, told me that he 
also was using a very stiff rod—whole cane I 
believe. It has its disadvantages though, for it 
tires the hand a good deal more than a lighter one, 
which is a consideration in a long day’s work. 
There is something very fascinating and 
absorbing about May-fly fishing. Everyone gets 
into such a feverish state of hurry, remembering 
now is their opportunity to make a haul, only as 
time is short it must be done at once, or the chance 
is lost. Not to be on the spot is fatal, for who 
knows how soon the cry may go up, “ The May¬ 
fly is rising ” ? And it comes j ust when the days 
ai'e getting their longest and warmest. I am not 
speaking of this yea;r’s weather, which has been 
at times so cold that wo had to close the door of 
the hut during lunch-time, and trust for venti¬ 
lation to the holes in the roof, but May-fly 
in June, as it ought to be. It also forms 
a delightful occasion for a picnic in the 
meadows, for non-anglers to come and admire 
the prowess of their more skilled brethren. It is 
so very delightful to lay the beautiful silvery 
fish side by side on the green bank, and explain 
in modest unassuming tones that they are nothing 
to what you would have accomplished if so-and- 
so had or had not occurred. And then there is 
lunch, a grateful though never a lengthy meal, 
because one remembers that splendid fellow who 
kept on rising by the osier bed, whilst another is 
quite sure there is a regular whale in the black 
ditch, and so on ad libitum. But somehow or 
other, however far the keen angler may stray, he 
always manages to find his way to the hut about 
tea-time, for tea is refreshing whether the after¬ 
noon is hot or the wind blowing through and 
through you. But it does not do to forget the 
teapot, as we did last Monday, and have to send a 
mile to fetch it. There is no doubt that a favour¬ 
able May-fly season bi-ings a real good time to all 
concerned. It l^risks up the monotonous routine 
of ordinary country life, it affords the occasion of 
a good deal of amusement and mild chaff, and, a 
very important item, makes a good standing point 
for the meeting of old friends from year to year. 
P.S.—To-day (May 31) there has been vei'y little 
fly on, and few fish moving. The air seems laden 
with blight. I am in hopes of a better state of 
things to-morrow. _ 
It has been a remarkably early season for the 
May-fly on the Test. On May 6, at about? p.m., 
I captured a specimen of this fly, and the fol¬ 
lowing day the keeper here (Romsey) told me 
he saw quite a number. From the first hatch 
until now (May 30, when the fly may be said to 
be over) there has hardly ever been much of a 
hatch before noon in the day. My experience 
points to the fact that the principal hatch of 
May-flies has generally occurred about 3 p.m. or 
-I p.m. each day, lasting until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. 
One Sunday I did hear of the trout rising and 
taking them between 10 a.m. and H a.m., but 
did not witness it. 
On May 12, while fishing at Mottisfont, I saw 
the first trout taking May-fly, and perhaps on 
this day the fly was as strong on the water as it 
has been all along. 
May 13 I made my first trial with the artificial 
fly. It was a very hot, bright day with hardly 
a breath of wind, and as I came through the little 
wood to get to the lower end of my fishing the 
heat was almost tropical. Butterflies were 
flitting about in swarms in this wood, and I 
noticed several uncommon varieties; it must 
have been an ideal year for entomologists. 
Although there was a fair hatch of fly on the 
afternoon of this day; the fish seemed strangely 
apathetic about taking them, and where there 
ought to be a dozen fish rising I could only find 
one or two. 
The first fish I put the fly over was rising in a 
clear space with gravelly bottom, that at times is 
used for bathing purposes. This fish I could see 
most plainly as he lay close to the surface, he was 
fairly eager after the fly, travelling some yards 
either side to take them. The fly I tried him 
with was not one of my favourites (my special 
pattern not having arrived). It consisted of a 
straw body with very light-coloured large wings, 
and a freckled hackle; tbe whole fly as it floated 
on the glassy clear water, was quite a shock to 
me, looking like a ship running, stunsails both 
sides. Two or three times he apparently utterly 
disregarded the existence of this fly, although it 
passed right over him, then as it came down some 
feet to one side he made a dash, and was hooked. 
I had not much trouble until the fish made a 
determined attempt to take me under a wire a 
weed catcher had been attached to. Stopping him 
from this, unfortunately immediately over a 
weed bed, he promptly burrowed in the weeds, and 
nothing would move him ; there I finally left him 
with a foot or two of my cast. So ended the first 
fish of the May-fly season, a trout between 21b. 
and olb. After that episode I had two grayling 
on the Home Ruler’s fly, and about 8 p.m. a trout 
of lilb. on the Alder. I may here remark that 
I have found the Alder to be a capital evening 
fly, and it has also killed well in the mornings 
before the May-fly put in an appearance. 
Without going into details of all the separate 
fish killed on the May-fly and Alder, I find from 
my notes that out of twelve trout, of an aggregate 
weight of 221b., and nine grayling, averaging 
about l|lb., only about half were killed on the 
May-fly, while that fly was up, the rest falling to 
the Sedge and Alder. By-the-bye, the Kembridga 
Sedge is a rattling good fly for this part of the 
Test, and George Holland has the pattern. The 
other evening between eight and nine o’clock, I 
had a brace of very nice fish on this fly, one 31b., 
the other 2flb. But to return to the Alder, I may 
mention two instances of the value of this fly for 
late evening. Saturday, 29th, I had the pleasure 
of landing a fish for a friend caught on this fly. 
We had seen the fish in the morning and had 
estimated his weight between four and five pounds. 
On coming past the place in the evening, about a 
quarter after eight, we found this fish rising. 
My friend put an Alder over him. The fisti was 
only rising at long intervals, but after one of 
these I had just remarked “ there he rose,” when 
my friend at the same instant said “ and I am 
into him.” The trout did not give the play I 
expected, but netting him was rather a long 
business, it was getting fairly dark, and the 
fish seemed very large ifor the somewhat small 
net. However, out he came at last. On taking 
him to the light, we weighed and measured 
him, S^lb., and 22in. long, evidently an old male 
fish. The length of 22in. should have at least 
given this trout another pound weight, as the 
usual length of a 31b. Test trout is about 18in. 
when in fair condition. Another incident 
occurred to me while using the Alder as an 
evening fly. I had just lost a large trout on 
this fly, by the breaking of my cast while 
trying to stop the fish from getting up a side 
stream, and as there was another fish rising 
slightly higher up, I proceeded to repair 
damages, but the failing light made me 
unable to distinguish an Alder amongst a 
box of eyed flies. Having no matches, I 
found an excellent substitute in a glowworm, 
caught out of the grass and put in the box. The 
light given by this insect enabled me to find the 
fly I wanted, but the sequel was not what it 
should be (it seldom is). I did not catch the 
trout, but the second cast left ray fly in the fir 
tree behind me. (My brother says this tree “ will 
make an excellent Christmas tree—all prizes and 
no blanks.”) After that it was too dark to do 
anything. A rather curious thing happened while 
I was fishing that evening. A bat swooped down 
and plucked at a May-fly fixed in my cap, evidently 
expecting to make a meal off the fly. 
The i\lay-fly I always find kills best is rather 
a small fly, wings small, of a shade between light 
brown and yellow, not too dark, whitish wool 
body, gold twist, and plenty of red hackle. It 
takes a lot of drying, but wears well, and beats 
most fancy patterns. I think if the wool used 
for the body was procured in the natural greasy 
state directly from the sheep without washing, 
it would help to make the fly more waterproof, 
and some nice shades of colour found also. I 
intend this winter to make some experiments in 
May-flies, as I am sure there is still room for 
improvement, but it is long to look forward, as 
the only true test is the trial by a jury of 
fish. 
Looking back on the short three weeks the 
May-fly has been up, I think that the season of 1893 
may be taken as a bad one ; and, from all I have 
heard, I think that fishermen will generally 
agree with me in this opinion. Water was low 
and clear, except when muddied by the weed¬ 
cutting, which, of course, went on persistently 
through all the beat of the May-fly fishing; but 
this is one of the laws of the Medes and i’ersians, 
and never altera. 
On jMay 17, we had a good rain here, after 
having been quite two months without any. The 
fish certainly rose and took the fly a little better 
after this, and it materially increased the volume 
of water, but only for a day. All through the 
