The Complete Fisherman by Walter Matthew Gallichan

Author:Walter Matthew Gallichan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Laurie
Published: 1907-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

The first spring fly to appear in large numbers is the blue dun, an insect that undergoes two or three modifications in size and colour in the imago or final state. This fly is abundant or otherwise according to the locality and the conditions of weather that attend its development from

the ovum to the full stage. It is, at any-

I

rate, a general fly for all rivers in this 109

THE COMPLETE FISHERMAN

country during the spring months, and you cannot err if you use it from April till the end of May.

Another early fly is the March brown, which, however, is seldom abundant until April, and is often, in cold seasons, almost scarce. But when March browns are hatching out during an April noon, by all means have their imitation as the tail fly on your cast.

With the waning of April, the dark

olive dun often comes on the water, and

this is a very useful stock fly throughout

the season. It is also a good grayling

fly in mid-winter. The iron blue dun

makes its appearance on dull, cool days,

in the spring and early summer. When

in doubt, on an unpromising day at the

beginning of the season, I have often

found the iron blue dun the only killing no

BROWN TROUT AND GRAYLING

fly in my book. The redspinner, the

ash dun, the yellow dun, the alder,

the red quill gnat, the blue upright,

and the whirling dun are all useful and

popular flies, but some of these are not

found in the natural state on all our

rivers. The May fly, or green drake

appears early in June, and is taken

greedily by trout for about ten to fourteen

days. During the May fly season, when

the fish are really voracious, the most

inexperienced of fly-fishermen can scarcely

fail to catch a few trout.

For wet-fly-fishing in moorland streams

it is best to use hackle flies, i.e., those

dressed without wings. It is probable that

trout mistake a sunk fly of this description

for the pupae that rise from the bed of the

river, when the fly is on the point of

hatching. It may, however, prove profit-in

THE COMPLETE FISHERMAN

able to fish with winged flies, in the wet style, in big, boisterous rivers and in discoloured water. But, as a general rule, the hackle flies are the best in early spring, especially in clear streams.

Flies for ** dry" work should be carefully dressed to resemble the natural insect. The wings must cock or stand up in a life-like manner, and the hackles and tail must be equally deceptive. Except in abnormal seasons, May is early enough to begin dry fly-fishing.

Hill brook trout are far less fastidious in the matter of flies than the trout of the bigger river, and the pellucid streams of the North Midlands, Hampshire and Hertfordshire. Sometimes the weirdest-looking fly, bearing no resemblance to any living insect, is seized with avidity by the small, hungry trout of a Scotch

BROWN TROUT AND GRAYLING

burn or a Welsh tributary. I have proved this again and again, not only in the rivulets of this country, but in Spain and Belgium. On the other hand, it is usually a waste

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