FLIES AND KNOTS. 255 
CHAPTER XXYII. 
FLIES AND KNOTS. 
It is generally considered that fly-making cannot be 
tanght by written instruction, bnt this depends some- 
what on the intelligence of the scholar, who must not 
undertake to conceive the result before he has waxed his 
thread, bnt should be content to follow the directions 
word by word. At all events there is something that 
the experienced, and an immense deal that the partially 
instructed beginner may add to his store of knowledge, 
and if the following directions will not make a novice 
perfect, they may aid him when he has had a few per- 
sonal lessons. To tie a fly, the gut should be singed in a 
candle or bitten at one end, and the hook and thread 
waxed to insure the hook's not coming oft', which, when 
a fine fish has it in his mouth, is a heart-rending casualty. 
Take a few turns with the thread on the shank of the 
bare hook, nearly to the head, then applying the gut, 
whip it firmly on by working back to the bend ; under 
the last turns at the bend insert whisks for the tail dub- 
bing, floss or herl for the body, and tinsel if desired. 
The floss, silk and dubbing are generally spun or twisted 
in with the thread, and then wound back toward the 
shoulder, but they may be wound on before, with, or 
after the thread. Care must be taken that the turns 
