42 



infallible lure is an imitation of the natural fly last seen upon 

 the surface. The angler's true expedient is to change his 

 cast until haply he tickles the fancy of the fish he wooes. 



One should possess skill enough to tie his own flies in cases 

 of emergency, and judgment to select his patterns ; but it is 

 better, as a rule, to leave this branch of the " gentle art " to 

 the delicate manipulations of professional fly-dressers. It is 

 probable that the present method of dressing a fly with the 

 hook entirely exposed to the keen vision and suspicious scru- 

 tiny of the fish which it is expected to deceive, will be ulti- 

 mately superseded. That accomplished scholar and ardent 

 angler, John Mullaly, Esq., of the New York Board of Health 

 and late editor of the " Metropolitan Record," has contrived 

 a plan by which the lure is made to more nearly resemble 

 the natural fly. That monstrous appendage, the barbed tail, 

 which exists in no species of fly, or of anything living or 

 dreamed of except the Devil, is hidden from sight and con- 

 cealed between the wings. At the same time the balance of 

 the hook is perfectly preserved, and the fly kept in its proper 

 and natural position upon the water. If it be that fish are 

 so nice in their discrimination as to detect the slightest differ- 

 ence in the anatomy and color of the artificial or natural fly, 

 as some experts would have us believe, this innovation in 

 tying certainly gives the angler an advantage over his noble 

 opponent which he has not hitherto enjoyed ; and the salmon 

 will have to be more liberally handicapped than ever. Clerke 

 & Co., I know, regard this improvement with great favor. I 

 have also a little contrivance of my own which can be used 

 only in very rough water, and was so intended to be used. 

 It is merely a fly dressed in the ordinary way, with a bright 

 metal whirligig or swivel around its neck, which revolves 

 spoon-fashion in the current, and attracts attention. It is 

 very effective in the Grand Lake stream and the rapids of the 

 Upper Saguenay. 



Trout are nomadic in their habits. Large fish are not found 

 at the head of a stream. As they grow in size, they constantly 



