2oo Wet- Fly Fishing 



in any other way; I see no harm in two 

 wings if they are only thin enough. As I 

 have generally held my own, I can venture 

 to speak confidently in favour of the single 

 wing. 



The idea was not mine. 



I copied it from my old preceptor, Mark 

 Aitken, who, I consider, was head and 

 shoulders my superior, as a wet-fly fisher- 

 man. He was, indeed, facile princeps. It 

 is about forty years since he died, and I 

 may truly say that, as a wet-fly fisher, 

 I have never seen his better. Peace to his 

 ashes ! 



I must now deal with the artificial fly 

 itself, but from the wet-fly fisher's point 

 of view exclusively. To begin at the 

 beginning: one cannot do wrong to deal 

 first with the hook upon which the imita- 

 tion is dressed. 



Since the days of Stewart, up till now, 

 I consider that better or more reliable 

 hooks are not made for wet-fly fishing 

 than are the ordinary round-bend, blue- 

 steel hooks made by Messrs. Hutchinson 

 & Sons of Kendal. Next to these, I am 

 inclined to place the " sneck-bend." I 

 wish it to be clearly understood, however, 

 that my choice in no way implies the 



