AMERICAN TROUT-STREAM INSECTS 



Most often some well-known angler takes up an 

 old favorite fly, ties to it a bit of red or white 

 feather, makes a test under most favorable condi- 

 tions, and then swears the additional ornament was 

 surely the cause. What is the outcome ? He cries 

 out to all his friends of the wonderful discovery of 

 a new killing fly, then modestly names the new crea- 

 tion after himself or the place he happens to be 

 fishing. Rube Wood, Seth Green, Cahill, Fergu- 

 son, and others are examples of them. By this I 

 do not take from their usefulness or value as flies, 

 but merely comment upon their rise into fame, as 

 flies. 



Tradition has much to do with such glaring 

 mistakes. Each generation of anglers go on using 

 tackle-shop flies without thinking — or, rather, what 

 little time can be spared must be devoted to the ac- 

 tual sport of angling. They accept the wise and 

 serious air of the tackle-dealer's clerk; swallow his 

 assurance that such and such a fly is a deadly killer, 

 when ninety-nine per cent, never caught or even 

 saw a trout except the stuffed images or the 

 wretched pictures supposed to depict them adorn- 

 ing the walls of every up-to-date store. 



Another good reason why so many of the trade 

 flies should be discarded is that for cheapness and 

 profit anything will suffice if the hook is covered 

 and a gay pair of wings attached in the same old 

 way. To supply the varied wants of his patrons 



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