He is to be fished for at all times, for he is rarely so much out of season as to be a bad fish; and when there are flies on the water, he will generally take them: but as the trout may be considered as a spring and summer fish, so the grayling may be considered as a winter and autumnal fish.
Grayling do not refuse large flies; and in the Avon and Test May flies, and even moths, are greedily taken in the summer by large grayling. Flies, likewise, that do not inhabit the water, but are blown from the land, are good baits for grayling. There is no method more killing for large grayling, than applying a grasshopper to the point of a leaded hook, the lead and shank of which are covered with green and yellow silk, to imitate the body of the animal. This mode of fishing is called sinking and drawing. I have seen it practised in this river with as much success as maggot fishing, and the fish taken were all of the largest size; the method being most successful in deep holes, where the bottom was not visible, which are the natural haunts of such fish. In the winter, grayling rise for an hour or two in bright and tolerably warm weather, and at this time the smallest imitations of black or pale gnats that can be made, on the smallest sized hook, succeed best in taking them. In March, the dark-bodied willow fly may be regarded as the earliest fly; the imitation of which is made by a dark claret dubbing and a dun hackle, or four small starlings’ wing feathers. The blue dun comes on in the middle of the day in this month, and is imitated by dun hackles for wings and legs, and an olive dubbing for body. In mild weather, in morning and evening in this month, and through April, the green tail, or grannon, comes on in great quantities, and is well imitated by a hen pheasant’s wing feather, a grey or red hackle for legs, and a dark peacock’s harle, or dark hare’s ear fur, for the body. The same kind of fly, of a larger size, with paler wings, kills well in the evening, through May or June. The imitation of a water insect called the spider-fly, with a lead-coloured body and woodcock’s wings, is said to be a killing bait on this and other rivers, in the end of April and beginning of May, but I never happened to see it on the water. The darker alder fly, in May and June, is taken greedily by the fish; it is imitated by a dark shaded pheasant’s wing, black hackle for legs, and a peacock’s harle, ribbed with red silk, for the body. At this season, and in July, imitations of the black and red palmer worms, which I believe are taken for black or brown, or red beetles or cockchafers, kill well; and in dark weather there are usually very light duns on the water. In August, imitations of the house fly and blue bottle, and the red and black ant fly, are taken, and are particularly killing after floods in autumn, when great quantities of the fly are destroyed and washed down the river. In this month, in cloudy days, pale blue duns often appear, and they are still more common in September. Throughout the summer and autumn, in fine calm evenings, a large dun fly, with a pale yellow body, is greedily taken by grayling after sunset, and the imitation of it is very killing. In the end of October, and through November, there is no fly fishing but in the middle of the day, when imitations of the smaller duns may be used with great success; and I have often seen the fish sport most, and fly fishing pursued with great success in bright sunshine, from twelve till half past two o’clock, after severe frosts in the morning; and I once caught under these circumstances a very fine dish of fish on the 7th of November. It was in the year 1816; the summer and autumn had been peculiarly cold and wet, and, probably in consequence of this, the flies were in smaller quantity at their usual season, and there were a greater proportion later in the year.
Grayling, if you take your station by the side of a river, will rise nearer to you than trout, for they lie deeper, and therefore are not so much scared by an object on the bank; but they are more delicate in the choice of their flies than trout, and will much oftener rise and refuse the fly. Trout, from lying nearer the surface, are generally taken before grayling where the water is slightly coloured, or after a flood; and in rain trout usually rise better than grayling, though it sometimes happens, when great quantities of flies come out in rain, grayling, as well as trout, are taken with more certainty than at any other time. The artificial fly, in such cases, looks like a wet fly, and allures even the grayling, which generally is more difficult to deceive than trout in the same river.—Sir Humphry Davy.
Grease, s. The soft part of the fat; a swelling and gourdiness of the legs, which generally happens to a horse after his journey.
Swelled legs, although distinct from grease, are apt to degenerate into it. This disease, therefore, comes next under our consideration. It is an inflammation of the skin of the heel, sometimes of the fore, but oftener of the hind foot. It is not a contagious disease, although when it once appears in a stable it frequently goes through it, for it is usually to be traced to bad stable management. The skin of the heel of the horse somewhat differs from that of any other part. There is a great deal of motion in the fetlock, and to prevent the skin from excoriation or chapping, it is necessary that it should be kept soft and pliable; therefore, in the healthy state of the part, the skin of the heel has a peculiar greasy feel. Under inflammation, the secretion of this greasy matter is stopped—the heels become red, dry, and scurfy; and being almost constantly in motion, cracks soon succeed: these sometimes extend, and the whole surface of the heel becomes a mass of soreness, ulceration, and fungus.
The first appearance of grease is usually a dry and scurfy state of the skin of the heel, with redness, heat and itchiness. The heel should be well washed with soap and water; as much of the scurf should be detached as is easily removable: white ointment composed of one drachm of sugar of lead, rubbed down with an ounce of lard, will usually supple and cool, and heal the part.
When cracks appear, the mode of treatment will depend on their extent and depth. If they are but slight, a lotion composed of a solution of two drachms of blue vitriol, or four of alum, in a pint of water, will often speedily dry them up and close them. But if the cracks are deep, with an ichorous discharge, and the lameness considerable, it will be necessary to poultice the heel. A poultice of linseed meal will be the most effectual, unless the discharge is thin and offensive, when an ounce of finely powdered charcoal should be mixed with the linseed meal, or a poultice may be made with carrots boiled soft, and mashed. The efficacy of a carrot poultice is seldom sufficiently appreciated in cases like these.
When the inflammation and pain have evidently subsided, and the cracks discharge good matter, they may be dressed with an ointment composed of one part of resin, and three of lard, melted together, and one part of calamine powder added, when these begin to get cool. The healing will be quickened if the cracks are occasionally washed with either the vitriol or alum solution. A mild diuretic may here be given every third day, but a mild dose of physic will form the best medicine that can be administered.
After the chaps or cracks have healed, the legs will sometimes continue gorged and swelled. A flannel bandage evenly applied over the whole of the swelled part will be very serviceable; or, should the season admit of it, a run at grass, particularly spring grass, should be allowed. A blister is inadmissible, from the danger of bringing back the inflammation of the skin, and discharge from it; but the actual cautery, taking especial care not to penetrate the skin, must occasionally be resorted to.
There will be great danger in suddenly stopping this discharge. Inflammation of a more important part has rapidly succeeded to the injudicious attempt. The local application should be directed to the abatement of the inflammation. The poultices just referred to should be diligently used night and day, and especially the carrot poultice; and, when the heat and tenderness and stiffness of motion have diminished, astringent lotions may be applied; either the alum lotion, or a strong decoction of oak bark, changed, or used alternately, but not mixed. The cracks should likewise be dressed with the ointment above mentioned; and the moment the horse can bear it, a flannel bandage should be put on, reaching from the coronet, to three or four inches above the swelling.