AMERICAN TROUT-STREAM INSECTS 



With the winding silk you tie fast the ribbing or 

 tinsel and body material at the bend of the hook, or 

 tail end, and the thorax or shoulder material you 

 tie at the eye end. The thorax should never be too 

 thick, because the tying on of wings and afterward 

 the hackle makes the thorax thicker still. 



A thin body requires the material tied round the 

 hook itself, whether it be of silk, raffia, horsehair, 

 quill, or tinsel, or a combination of any of these. 



To wing the fly, after the body is completed, and 

 all ends neatly cut away, you must first prepare 

 your wings. Cut out the tips from feathers of 

 small birds' wings, or neatly cut from the sides of 

 large wing feathers ; then trim these to the right size, 

 having them evenly matched, with a corresponding 

 feather from each wing of the same bird cut down 

 to the appropriate size. When this is done, with 

 the left finger and thumb hold the wings tightly in 

 place and tie fast. If the wings get out of place, 

 too far forward or backward, force them exactly 

 right before tying off. After it is tied secure, cut 

 off the stumps as neatly as possible and the fly is 

 then ready for the hackle or legs. 



Before you tie on the hackle it must, like the 

 wings, be prepared. First, strip off the downy 

 plumes at the base of the quill. Then, taking the 

 extreme point between the thumb and forefinger of 

 the left hand, with the right thumb and forefinger 

 slightly moistened, stroke back the whole of the 



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