FLY-TYING. 15 



intended. The most important part is the simplest and 

 first, the securing of the gut to the shank of the hook. 

 Unless this is attended to, all your lahour is vain and 

 worthless so much time thrown away and wasted. Here 

 comes all the strain, and a thoughtless turn or two will 

 cause nought but disappointment. Some anglers, par- 

 ticularly Irish ones, place the wings on so that the feather 

 points from the hook, then double them back and tie them 

 down. In this method much practice is necessary to form 

 a handsome head ; but its advocates claim for it strength. 

 However, I have so frequently found the silk slip, and the 

 feathers consequently point in the reverse direction, that I 

 unhesitatingly condemn the practice. To make a hand- 

 some and serviceable fly, I have always followed the 

 method of putting the wings on separately, care being 

 taken not to injure the pile of the feathers ; and this 

 should be done last, the most minute drop of varnish being 

 used over the silk when the head is finished off. My first 

 effort to tie a fly turned out a thing like a humming-bird, 

 my second like a humble bee, and so on till I have suc- 

 ceeded in making a good imitation of a gnat. Patience 

 and perseverance have done this, and none will ever excel 

 in fly-tying without exercising these qualities, so essen- 

 tially useful in every walk in life. As a rule, the bigger 

 the river, a superabundance of water in a stream, and the 

 more boisterous the weather, the larger can be the flies 

 used ; but in summer, when the rivulets and burns have 

 become clear and low, the smallest sizes must be resorted 

 to, thrown with the lightest line, from the most unobserv- 

 able and most sheltered position. 



