THE SYSTEM OF ARTIFICIAL FLIES. 7/ 



variety ; but the essentials of the flies themselves never 

 vary. Nor is the rationale of this difficult to understand. 

 The Salmon admittedly does not take the fly for any 

 living insect, or food which he can have previously met 

 with. Then for what and why does he take it t For its 

 beauty and tempting appearance. Probably it has an appe- 

 tizing effect. To borrow a familiar illustration from our- 

 selves, how few schoolboys would have been flogged for 

 stealing apples but for the fascination of their rosy cheeks t 

 In the Chapter on Salmon-fishing I have given three 

 patterns of Salmon-flies which combine the real essen- 

 tials as above described, in what my experience leads 

 me to believe to be the most perfect form. 



White or sea Trout, and their congeners, appear in 

 their tastes, and habits of feeding, to be somewhat inter- 

 mediate between Salmon and brown Trout ; and the 

 Trout-flies described, with a slight addition of tinsel, 

 will kill them, both in still and running water, better 

 than any others with which I am acquainted. 



// will thus be seen that I propose to substititte six typical 



flies — three for Salmon and Grilse, and three for Tronty 



Grayling, &c. — for the whole of the artificial flies now tiscd. 



That there are a great number of existing patterns of 

 flies for each different kind of fish, most anglers are pro- 

 bably aware, but perhaps few have any very distinct 



