FLIES 145 



usual, and of fish that were hooked, I scarcely 

 lost one. These are known as Major Fraser's 

 hooks, and they are to be obtained of Messrs. 

 Farlow & Co. 



Improvements in fishing tackle have been 

 done to death in recent years, and it is doubt- 

 ful whether there is so great an improvement 

 after all. Certainly one of the many charms of 

 salmon fishing with the fly is that you want 

 so little in the way of apparatus. Your rod 

 and reel, your line and cast, your box of flies ; 

 with less you cannot do ; more is superfluity. 

 It is when you come to the baser arts, to the 

 use of prawn and gudgeon, that the day of 

 queerly twisting reels, of cunning swivels, and 

 complicated tackles, begins. But there is one 

 modern invention which I consider of great 

 advantage to the fly fisherman Mr. Kelson's 

 lever winch. To be able to alter the check 

 of your winch when playing a fish is often 

 very useful, and a little practice leads you to 

 play a fish in this manner as a matter of 

 course. These reels are made of a light alloy 

 of aluminium, and you can therefore use one 

 which has a very big drum, with only a mo- 

 derately heavy rod. 



