HOW TO DRESS A WET FLY. 77 



Then, holding the hackle by the tip, lay the 

 bare stem obliquely across the under side of the 

 shank, pointing "half -right," and the inner or less 

 glossy side of the fibres facing inwards towards 

 the shank. 



Fasten in hackle, i.e., bind stem to shank, 

 with two turns of the tying silk towards the left. 

 Fasten tying silk in clip, and cut away exposed 

 end of hackle stem. Fasten hackle pliers on 

 point of hackle. 



Now wind hackle two or three turna towards 

 the right, changing hands, as in winding body 

 material, and keeping the stem of the hackle taut 

 during the operation. Bring the turns alternately 

 behind and in front of the strained length of 

 tying silk, always, however, pulling the point of 

 the hackle a little to the right when it is passing 

 underneath the shank. Now, holding the un- 

 wound part of hackle taut, and pointing " half- 

 right," fasten down the wound part with two 

 turns of the tying silk, towards the right and in 

 front of the wings. Fasten silk in clip. Cut 

 away closely the unwound remnant of the hackle. 

 Eemove silk from clip. 



The next step is to fasten in the tying silk by 

 means of what is called the " whip finish." 



All kinds of lapping, whether on rods, cricket 

 bats, or any other such- articles, are finished by 

 this neat and secure fastening. The manner of 

 making it is a little difficult to describe in words, 

 but perhaps it will be understood from the figures 

 below. These are intended simply to illustrate 

 the whip finish, and have no other relation to the 

 figures which have preceded them. Thus a 

 portion of the shank of the hook is shown bare, 

 though, in the method of fly dressing with which 

 we are now dealing, the whole shank is covered 

 with tying silk, before the time for making the 

 whip finish is reached. 



