PREFACE. 



When the writers began to take a practical interest 

 in trout fly dressing, they experienced great difficulty in 

 determining the correct feathers for the various pat- 

 terns, as the older books on the subject of North Country 

 flies are vague in the extreme. The few more modern 

 writers on wet flies, for want of precision, have done 

 little to help the beginner to a proper appreciation of 

 his materials. It was therefore felt that a book, which 

 not only prescribed the exact part of a bird from which 

 the correct feathers should be taken, but illustrated 

 such feathers and other materials (as also the flies made 

 therefrom), in colour, would be a help, at least to 

 beginners in the craft, and not merely an encumbrance 

 on angling literature. 



Having conceded the difficulties of the novice 

 wishing to dress his own flies, the question of the 

 number of patterns necessary for fishing the Rivers of 

 the North Country naturally came next for consideration. 

 As the tendency during recent years has been to increase 

 the number out of all reason and beyond practical 



