48 FLY FISHING. 



trim his own flies ; which in fact is a highly interesting amuse- 

 ment to those who can devote the time to it ; added to which 

 catching a fish with a fly of your own making considerably en- 

 hances your sport. Nor is it by any means so difficult as is im- 

 agined by the uninitiated to tie up a fly that will catch fish, if com- 41 

 posed of the proper materials, which as before remarked is far 

 more essential than neatness of form ; and I have seen many a 

 fly tied up with coarse thread by a village blacksmith, of such a 

 clumsy manufacture that no exquisite angler would condescend to 

 use it, cause the death of more fish than all the well tied flies the 

 latter could select from his neatly arranged pocket book. In fact the 

 very roughness of the tie gives not unfrequently a more natural 

 appearance by representing the insect struggling half drowned and 

 in a wounded and helpless state, in which condition flies, not 

 properly belonging to the water, as the cow dung or hawthorn fly, 

 are frequently blown into it, and in that form are generally pre- 

 sented to the view of the fishes, who in blustering weather are 

 commonly on the look out to profit by accidents of this kind. 



As to the wings of artificial flies a great contrariety of opinion 

 seems to exist among the most scientific in the piscatory art. Some 

 are of opinion that wings are almost indispensable, whilst others 

 dispense with them altogether, or rather represent them by the 

 hackle only, which makes the fly buz like the confused appearance 

 of the wings when the insect is in the act of flying. As far as 

 many of the small ephemeral flies are concerned, I am inclined to 

 adhere to tke latter opinion ; for the wings of many of these are 

 so extremely delicate, that it is impossible to make a close imita- 

 tion of them with any feather preserving at the same time any 

 thing like the form of the wings, whilst a very light blue hackle 

 wound round a few times will give a very just imitation of the 

 insects when in the act of flying, as we may easily perceive if we 

 notice any of them playing about over our heads ; at which time 

 the whisks at the end of their tails are easily distinguishable, and 

 in imitations of ephemeral flies should never be omitted. In the 

 larger ephemeral flies, particularly such as have dark coloured 

 wings, as the caperer, the stone fly, and dark mackerel, the wing 

 alone without any hackle will be sufficient, to produce the right 

 colour and effect, whilst in others both the hackle and wing are 

 requisite to accomplish this, as neither taken singly would do so ; 

 and this is particularly the case with the cob fly or March brown, as it 



