28 SALMON FLIES 



for only one side is used, and accordingly it 

 may go with or against the body tinsel ; but 

 the retaining twist or tinsel will, of course, 

 always go in a direction opposite to that of 

 the hackle, and therefore it may go, according 

 to circumstances, with or against the body 

 tinsel, in which latter event a further unusual 

 effect is produced. The wings are almost 

 invariably plain brown Mallard strips, " right " 

 sides being used for right wings, and vice versa. 

 The natural curve of the fibres of this feather 

 enhances the drooping character of the wings. 

 The Spey fly is a somewhat unique pro- 

 duction. It is not every salmon fisherman 

 who has used a Spey fly, or who even knows 

 what it looks like ; I have therefore thought it 

 worth while to include the foregoing remarks, 

 as being possibly of some use.* 



* I am indebted to Messrs. William Brown, of Aberdeen 

 (of Browns' Phantom fame), for their kindness in send- 

 ing me patterns actually tied by Spey-side gillies to 

 copy from. From them I elicited the information that 

 there was no such thing as a constant dressing of 

 any Spey fly, for the reason that every dresser had 

 a different rendering for each pattern, and, moreover, 

 subjected his own rendering to considerable variation. 

 I might mention that none of the patterns depicted on 

 Plate VII. are precisely the same in detail as the similarly 



