MAY. 51 



Slips for wings may be found in those of the woodcock 

 or hen pheasant ; with fawn or amber colored silk or alpaca 

 woollen thread for body, etc., tinged with blue-dun fur, and 

 legged with a black-red hackle. 



62ND. GREEN DRAKE. 31 Length various, from three- 

 quarters to seven-eighths may be the medium ; wings nearly 

 the same, which are of a light grass green ground, and dim 

 transparency ; veined and crossed with darker lines ; two 

 or three small blotches near the middle. Head and shoul- 

 ders a light grass green hue, with touches of darker at the 

 sides, and a dark blotch on the back and on the sides of 



(34) At the time when this little work was first issued, no doubt the imitation 

 of this, the most beautiful of aquatic insects, was of little use except under very 

 exceptional circumstances, such as a coloured water, or dull windy day ; but during 

 the past twenty years experiments have been made and results arrived at, such as 

 perhaps have not been effected in the case of any other fly. Such thoroughly prac- 

 tical men as Mr. Francis, the late James Ogden of Cheltenham, the late David Foster 

 of Ashbourne, Hammond of Winchester, and W. J. Cummins of Bishop Auckland, 

 not forgetting also Mr. Aldam, whose name is associated with one of the greatest 

 curiosities of angling literature ever issued by the press, I repeat, such men as these 

 have, by means of most patient research and practical experiments, succeeded in 

 bringing the floating imitation of the " G-reen Drake " to such a state of perfection 

 as to leave nothing to be desired. The bodies of these floating artificials are formed 

 from various materials, but undoubtedly the best is that recommended by Mr. 

 Francis, viz., straw or maize leaf ; this must be wrapped round a very fine wire hook 

 having a long shank, and ribbed with dark red-brown silk in spiral rings ; the legs 

 to be formed by a light speckled partridge feather dipped in onion dye, and the 

 wings from two picked feathers from a teal or drake stained to suit the colour of the 

 fly according to the district, these must be tied on back to back with a turn of pea- 

 cock harl to form the head, and when properly dressed I feel confident that all anglers 

 will agree with Mr. Francis that this cannot be excelled as an imitation of this 

 beautiful fly. On the Derbyshire Wye, and upon some of the Hampshire streams, 

 the " Green Drake " comes out in immense force if the season is favourable, and upon 

 these occasions great sport is obtained among the trout ; in Yorkshire, however, the 

 " Stone Fly " has the precedence, excepting on one or two of the smaller streams as 

 mentioned by the author. For an imitation to fish below the surface of the water, 

 011 a windy day for instance, the following is the pattern given by Mr. Francis : 

 body formed of cork, with floss silk rings ; tail, two whisks of brown mallard ; legs, 

 ginger or buff cochin hackle, and wings four hackle points from an Andalusian cock, 

 these are grizzled and blue dun colour, and must be stained pale yellow, which, on 

 the blue ground, gives the exact tinge ; a long and a short hackle must be used to 

 form each wing, and dressed well outwards to support the fly upon the water. The 

 floating patterns should be kept in a small tin box, as if the wings are crushed 

 between the leaves of a fly book, their floating properties are greatly impaired. In 

 Yorkshire this fly hardly ever appears on the water until the first week in June. 



