ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 295 



very heretical notions on the subject. But of one fact I 

 am positively convinced, and that is, that there is a good 

 deal of humbug iu this matter, as evidenced in the many 

 fine-spun theories and hair-splitting arguments that are 

 advocated and advanced (pertaining to the construction 

 and use of artificial flies) by some anglers, but which the- 

 ories do not hold good in practice. 



In England, more especially, do anglers proceed to ex- 

 tremes as theorists in the matter of artificial flies for Trout 

 fishing. They seem to be divided, principally, into *' col- 

 orists," or those who think color of paramount importance 

 to form, and " formalists," or "entomologists," who main- 

 tain that form is every thing, and profess to imitate the 

 natural fly, in its proper season, in' every particular of 

 form and tinting. But there is no evidence that one class 

 is more successful than the other, as anglers. On the other 

 hand are the followers of Mr. Pennell's system, or plan, 

 who confine themselves to, and advocate the employment 

 of, but three " typical " flies — green, brown, and yellow 

 palmers, or " hackles " — and claim that they are sufficient 

 for all practical purposes, and can be made available for 

 different waters and seasons, by increasing or diminishing 

 the size of the flies, as circumstances seem to demand. 

 While the adherents to this latter theory are fully as suc- 

 cessful, from all accounts, as those who have a list of nearly 

 a thousand named flies to choose from, and enjoy the sat- 

 isfaction of having reduced the perplexing matter to a de- 

 lightful simplicity, and of obviating the troubles of a re- 

 peated changing of the cast of flies as practiced by others 

 — they must sometimes feel a regret deep in their hearts 

 for casting down and sweeping away their idols and cher- 

 ished traditions, and to a certain extent the poetry of fly- 



