CHAPTER X 



HOW TO TIE ARTIFICIAL FLIES 



To make one's own flies is not only an accom- 

 plishment, but often a neccessity. Occasions arise 

 when an angler exhausts his supply of a certain 

 fly at which the trout are rising eagerly. This 

 frequently occurs on the stream and is a sad mis- 

 hap, if the rodster has not taken with him a few 

 loose feathers, a small spool of silk, a skein of col- 

 ored floss, and a piece of shoemaker's wax. How 

 to tie a fly must of course be learned at home ; but 

 when on the stream, this knowledge enables the 

 fisherman to quickly dress a fly, crude though it 

 may be, that will answer the demands of the 

 hungry trout. 



I propose, briefly as possible, to state how the 

 angler may learn the art of fly-tying, the material 

 necessary to use with a description of the dress- 

 ings of most of the flies in use on trout streams. 



At the beginning it is well to provide yourself 

 with a tin box in which to keep materials to pre- 

 vent them from being scattered about, and per- 



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