The Bog Midge
Tidying my fly-box the other day, I came across three very special flies and presented them to a friend who has recently taken up fishing. A year or two ago when I was in Dublin I discovered a little dry fly in a tackle-shop cabinet. It was labelled a Midge, but I had never seen anything like it. The assistant, a man with a bit of poetry in his speech, went so far as to say it was a Bog Midge. I brought his entire stock of two, and later, using the magic fly, caught a fish at my first cast and one at each cast until I had eight. I lost the Midge at the ninth cast when it caught on a sunken tree, but quickly I noted down the dressing of the remaining specimen, put the wonderful lure on and promptly lost it on another snag. On my return home I had two dozen flies made to the pattern but never caught a single fish with it. It looked a fly to please the most fastidious fish. It was more like a Bog Midge than a Bog Midge, if such a thing can 'be. My friend has risen to the fly, but he must wait until next spring to prove the value of my gift.
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