FLY-MAKING 431 



the width of the page has limited the length of the gut to 

 which the fly is tied. I hope you will not use so short a 

 piece. In tying a fly on a whole length of gut, for the sake 

 of convenience the gut is coiled up into a circumference not 

 larger than the loop FD, and the end passed through two or 

 three times to hold it in coil. 



" Let me tell you, Scholar," that the plain-looking Hackle 

 we have just tied, is the root to this tree of knowledge, 

 which the uninitiated think so difficult to climb ; but take it 

 easy, and tie a half-dozen or so of such hackles, and just 

 as certain as Trout rise at a fly, you will in time climb 

 the tree and attain to all the higher branches — even to the 

 most elaborate and gaudy Salmon-fly, that adorns the topmost 

 bough. 



Now let us beautify our Hackle with a little bit of tinsel, 

 and then I will introduce you to its first cousin the Palmer. 



If you intend to tip the tail of your fly with tinsel, let B 

 in figure 2 represent a strip of it. It is to be fastened in at A, 

 and three turns of it taken towards the bend of the hook, and 

 then two or three turns back to A, where it is fastened with 

 three turns of the wrapping-silk. The floss, or hurl, or 

 dubbing is then fastened in and the fly proceeded with as 

 before described. 



If you wish to rib the body with tinsel or gold thread, 

 you must tie it in at A before you tie in the end of floss or 

 hurl that you intend to make the body of. After the body is 

 formed, the tinsel, or gold, or silver thread is wound on 

 spirally as far as C, and the fly from that point completed as 

 already shown. 



To make a Palmer with a floss silk or hurl body, you first 

 tie in the end of the hackle at A (figure 2), then the tinsel, 

 and then the floss or hurl. The material you tie in last must 

 be wound on first. For instance, first wind on the hurl or 



