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may be made large, and will kill large Thames Trout, of 3, 4, and 5 lbs. weight, and Salmon Trout, with great success. The feather at the shoulder should be a large furnace hackle from the rump of a game cock, and the ostrich herl should be wound thickest there. The gold twist should be shown clearly at the tail, and the tailhook should be large and strong.

Hook No. 7. Palmers.

Not many years ago, a gentleman had just arrived, about the middle of June, as a stranger at a Fishing Station on the Thames. Meeting the head Fisherman of the place by the waterside, he asked "What Fly was most successful in raising the Thames Trout there"; and receiving no immediate reply, suggested the above "Large Red Palmer." "Oh, no!" was the reply: "perfectly useless." "Indeed!" said the gentleman, "it raises large Trout everywhere else in England." "It's useless here, however." "Well, I shall give it the first trial, nevertheless."

That evening the gentleman went down about half-past six, and about seven o'clock had landed a Trout of 3 lbs. with a fly made as above.

Another evening he hooked and played a larger, and lost it. Subsequently he took two one morning, before 7 A. M., the larger of which weighed 5 lbs. ; and various others.

K

130

PALMERS FOR THE FISHING SEASON.

The Large Red Palmer was the "best fly that could be used" for Trout there ever after.

more life in the water, The elastic fibres of the

Show plenty of gold at the tail; and let your feather be a good black near the head, and shade off to a rich game red. A fly of this kind falls more lightly, and shows than other large flies. hackle open and close as it is drawn across the stream, and it displays its colours to the best advantage. A hackle fly is never on its back. The Black and Red, or Large Red, Palmer, will ever be a standard Trout fly. For a Dropper, a smaller fly of similar materials, on a single hook (No. 7.), will be found a good accompaniment. That this is taken for a beetle of some kind by the Trout is highly probable.

The caterpillar of the Garden Tiger Moth is common on nettles during the autumn and spring; that of the Drinker Moth is abundant in spring on rank grass. Both rejoice in the familiar name of Woolly-bears in some places. Before these spin their cocoons, which they do in May and June, they wander from their food often to a great distance; and from this circumstance are called Palmers. It is probably during these pilgrimages mostly that they fall a prey to the fish through various mischances.

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