CHAPTEE VII. 

 HOW TO DRESS A WET FLY. 



AT the outset of the present chapter it may be 

 pardonable to reiterate the truism, that it is im- 

 possible to dress a fly true to nature without 

 either a present model from which to work, or an 

 accurate recollection of an absent one. The 

 former alternative is, of course, the better ; and 

 before the latter can be employed the fly must 

 have been studied, both as a whole and as a 

 structure of parts studied, in fact, with a view 

 to imitation. 



In " The Story of Ung" a short ballad by Mr. 

 Eudyard Kipling, an old " maker of pictures/' 

 sings of the aurochs that : 



' ' Men have not time at the houghing to count his curls 

 aright." 



And it is likely that, due to a similar cause, 

 there may be much unsuspected " haziness " 

 among fly fishers, as to what a natural fly is 

 really like. 



The fly dresser is, then, advised to avail himself 

 of every opportunity of studying the form and 

 colouring of flies, and to have always living 

 models when they are obtainable. Meanwhile, 

 the figures below may suffice to give a rough, 

 general idea of some of the principal forms of 

 insect life with which we shall have to deal. 



In the following descriptions of the various 

 methods of trout fly manufacture, I shall assume 

 that the beginner (to whom I address myself) is 

 right-handed. If the case be otherwise, it will not 



