The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-07-22
 FISH AND THE WEATHER.
Signs and Proverbs for Anglers and
 Meteorologists.

The astronomer in "Rasselas" be- lieved that he could control the wealth CT, and certain Austrian black fellows,
 like witches at large, have similar pre- tensions. Early science thought it
 enough to make a smoke on a hill, when other clouds collected out of sym
 pathy. Perhaps modern science, by | analysing the elements, may find some way of affecting the spots on the sun, which appear to have some influence on the weather. As rule, mankind confines itself to observing weather signs, and making proverbs and rhymes about them. These MT. Inwards has collected in his Weather Lore' from all sorts of sources. They are not very
 exhilarating when taken in large quan- titles, and we shall confine ourselves to
 weather in relation to fish. Animals
 yield signs and weather affects fishing: When the winds in the north The fish to bite are 10th.
 Or better:
 The hardy fisher goes not forth
 When the winds in the south,
 It blows the hook into the f1sh's mouth. When the winds in the east
 They won't bite the least.
 This is untrue of Loch Leven, where an easterly wind is preferred The wind probably affects fish by affecting the development of flies. This year, as far as we are aware, the May fly has in most places been failure. The shift ing chilly winds and the sunless cold have caused the fly to drop out in twos and threes; the trout do not get accus- toned to 1t, and rise languidly, or do not at all. Nothing is more beautiful than copious rise of May fly. The air is full of the floating fairy wings of light green, all the birds are busy, the black winged Swallow hawking along the stream The insouciant fly floats and flutters down the current, the wa ter is dlmpled with rising shouts, and driven into waves by great trout chas ing the insect as it arises from the gravel. The fish go mad and will take almost anything. Everything is happy | in this vernal massacre of the inno- cents; nature is fred in tooth and claw" indeed; but the May fly, the giv- CT of the feast, is luckily unconscious | as he futters and floats on the way to dusty death, affording parable of hu- | man existence. As rule, this 'Joyless
 June' has offered no such speotacles to | the contemplative man, who falls back
 on minute olive duns and stern bus | mess.
 | "When fish bite readily and swim 1 near the surface, rain may be expected; i; 1 they become inactive just before thun- | der showers The first part of this ob- | servation is incorrect, as a rule. It is commonly in steady weather that you see the trout with their heads a quarter of an inch beneath the surface, and
 with their tails flaming expectantly. | When peculiar leaden tinge and a 1 glster comes on stream or loch, noth-
 ing is to be done. After lunch trout lie | low still as stones. in almost any
 weather, at any time of year; perhaps l they are aslepp. When a very heavy
 shower comes down they will often rise I furiously, and may be taken by the complete bungler. But when they do not rise at all, the voice of the gilie contradicts that of Mir. Inwards
 by saying They're expectin' rain" :" But it has rained for a week." you l say. They're expectin' mair rain" | They are full of excuses for want of | appetite. Their demand seems to de-
 pend on the natural supply. When flies
 come on, they begin to dine, and when there are no flies, they do not trouble
 to look for them. If, in an east or
 north wind, flies hatch out, then the l wind does no harm, in spite of it's
 reputation. Some of the best baskets
 are made in chill vernal snow showers. l On the whole, however, the warmer
 airs are probably propitious to the | matching out of flies. For some indis- i coverable reason, water flies are be- | coming scarcer. The Mayfly especially l has wholly deserted long reaches of Test and Itchen, beginning at the up- per waters and vanishing downward
 so that reach of stream may be wid- | owed this year which last year had | Mayfiy enough. Some anglers pretend | to rejoice in this because minute duns
 have to be used. which demands much
 greater art. But this is mere pedantry I