296 THE COMPLETE ANGLER 



For the making of a hackle, or palmer-fly, my father 

 Walton has already given you sufficient direction.* 



[I am not very favourable to simple hackles, or to any sort 

 of palmers, either in this month, or in March. I would not 

 use palmers until April. Indeed, I consider them summer 

 and autumn baits. They are representations of caterpillars, 

 produced in warm weather, and very rarely found in this 

 climate of ours in April. Cotton gives a list of eight 

 flies for February. I do not like any one of them. I 

 will give four patterns for this month, confident of their 

 attractiveness. 



No. 1. Wings, a light brown, mottled feather of 

 the mallard, found under its wing ; body, a mixture of 

 red squirrel's fur and claret mohair, warped up the hook 

 to the wings with fiery-brown silk ; legs, a hackle dyed 

 claret. Hooks, 8, 9, 10. 



No. 2. Wings, standing upright, of a starling's wing- 

 feather ; tail, two fibres of the mottled mallard's feather ; 

 body, dark olive mohair, tipped with silver tinsel. Hooks, 

 9 and 10. A good fly on a bright day. 



No. 3. Wings, reddest feather of the woodcock's 

 wing ; body, dark fur of the hare's ear, to be picked 

 out at the shoulder ; gold tip, and tail two fibres of the 

 mallard feather. Hooks, same size as those of No. 2. 



No. 4. Wings and legs, brown mottled partridge back- 

 feather ; body, a mixture of orange mohair, and dark 

 and light hare's ear fur. Hooks, 10 and 11. E.] 



MARCH 



For this month you are to use all the same hackles 

 and flies with the other ; but you are to make them 

 less. 



* But, with Mr. Cotton's good leave, he has not, nor any author 

 that I know of, unless we are to take that for a palmer, which Walton 

 has given directions for making, page 110, which I can never do till I 

 see. what I have never yet seen, viz., caterpillars with wings. Re- 

 jecting, therefore, wings as unnatural and absurd ; supposing you 

 would make the plain hackle or palmer, which are terms of the same 

 import, the method of doing it is as follows : So far, Sir John 

 Hawkins. But I reject his instructions for making a hackle, and 

 substitute my own. They will be found in the Appendix to this work, 

 following the plate on which are engraved diagrams of winged flies 

 and hackle in their first, middle, and last stages of manufacture. E. 



