WHEN TO GO FISHING.
Having explained the apparatus necessary for catching trout, the next part of my subject appears to be the time when to go fishing, and one important point is the weather. Notwithstanding what some writers have said about catching trout in an east wind, I do not believe in it. With a wind from the South, West, or South-west, and a dull or showery day, one may fairly expect success; but to go out on a bright clear day, with wind from the North or East, is, in my opinion, neither pleasant nor profitable. I have done it many times when I had less experience, though not more enthusiasm, than at present, but I seldom do it now. An old song says:
"A Southerly wind and a cloudy sky
Proclaim a hunting morning;"
and they also tell the fly-fisher when to be off to the river. I should not be doing justice to this part of my subject if I were not to allude to the fly-fisher's carnival, the May-fly season. From about the last week in May till the middle of June is the time above all others to catch trout. I have frequently caught five or six brace in a couple of hours during this short season; but as soon as it is over I put away the rod for a few days, for, the fish being fairly glutted with the natural fly, do not care much for the artificial after the former is gone, although it will sometimes happen that on a rough, dull day, you can have good sport for a week or ten days afterwards.
The length of the May-fly season depends greatly on the weather. It generally lasts about three weeks; but the present season (1888) has been exceptionally wet and cold, and the flies were only hatched at long and irregular intervals, owing to the absence of sun. Consequently the season extended from the second or third day of June till the second week of July. On the 11th of June last I was fishing with a May-fly and a small Soldier-palmer for drop, my usual custom, and was struck by the difference of the manner in which fish rose at the two flies. The rise at the May-fly was bold and decisive, but without undue haste, whilst that at the Palmer was a sudden swish, without giving time to strike. I can only account for this by the circumstance that the natural May-fly is longer on the water than the Palmer before it gets water-logged and sinks, and the fish therefore know that they can take their time about it. The stream was very difficult to fish, and I lost a great many fish as well as flies from getting entangled in the bushes; nevertheless I succeeded in landing twelve brace of trout, besides some returned.
Next, as to the time of day. The most preferable times are from about 8 a.m. till noon, and after 4 p.m. till midnight. In many trout clubs there is a rule prohibiting fishing after half-past nine; but, if you are not restricted in that respect, you will find that the largest fish are taken from sunset till ten or eleven o'clock. The only justification for late fishing is that the very large trout, which often attain their great size from preying on their own species, then come out of their hiding-places and chase the small fry up and down the shallows. These cannibalistic old gentlemen, who do more harm than good in a trout stream, do not usually rise at a fly, and can only be caught with a live bait or worm, or by night fishing with a sunk fly, and the end justifies the means. White or brown moths are the favourites. I had some moths made specially large, on strong gut, for late fishing, but found it advisable to use a short line and only one fly, and to get the fish into the landing-net as soon as possible, for it is awkward work to land a big fish after dark, particularly if you are hampered with weeds or bushes.