IS6 MODERN PRACTICAL ANGLER. I| 



from a practical fly-tier will be worth volumes of pre- j 

 cept. It is, however, an art requiring much nicety and ] i 

 delicacy of manipulation, and not to be acquired in any j i 

 degree of perfection without practice and a certain 

 natural aptitude. 



As with Trout-flies so with Salmon-flies, none should 

 ever be pnt into a fly-book or be otherwise compressed, -t 

 The elasticity of the hackle fibre is impaired by pressure, ju 

 and all the fresh " crispness" of the fly is lost. If as soon * 

 as made flies are put into a box with others, they will i '. 

 bear any amount of tossing or tangling without injury, i i 

 and a round tin box, equal in bulk to an ordinary fly-book, 

 will contain quite as many flies and collars as any fly- 

 fisher need wish to take with him to the river side. 



I have already referred to this more than once, but it 

 is in my opinion a point of such great importance that | \ 

 too much stress can hardly be laid upon it. This will 

 be better understood when it is recollected that the 

 whole art of fly-fishing as we practise it, is based on the 

 principle of simulating life, rather than death ; and that 

 between a fly new and crisp, and one which has been 

 long flattened in a fly-book, there is almost as much dif- 

 ference when they are in the water as between a living 

 and a dead insect. 



TJie extra, or " head hackle!' should be about the same 

 length in the fibre as the body of the fly from head to 

 bntt. As, however, the size of hackles is limited, in 

 very large flies it is impossible to carry out this pro- 



