86 THE JOLLY ANGLER. 



left hand, and stroke the fibres of it with your right, 

 contrarywise to which they are formed 

 thus: keep your hold, as in the first 



x - N ?ss: vw 



position, and place the point of the 



hackle in its bend, with that side which grows nearest 



the cock upwards ; then whip it tight to the hook. In 



fastening it, avoid tying in the 



fibres as much as possible ; the 



hackle being fastened thus, 



, . . . _ , 9 



take it by the large end, and, 

 keeping the side nearest the 

 cock to the left hand, begin 

 with your right hand to wind it 

 up the shank upon the dubbing, stopping every second turn, 

 and holding what you have wound tight with your left 

 fingers, whilst, with a needle, you pick what fibres may 

 have been taken in ; proceed in this manner until you 

 come to the place where you first fastened, and where an 

 end of the silk is ; then clip those fibres off the hackle 

 which you hold between your fore-finger and thumb, close 

 to the stem, and hold the stem close to the hook ; after- 

 wards take the silk in your right hand, and whip the stem 

 quite fast to it; then make a loop, and fasten it tight. 

 Take a sharp knife, and if that part of the stem next the 

 shank of the hook be as long as the part of the hook 

 which is bare, pare it fine ; wax your silk, and bind neatly 

 over the bare part of the hook ; then fasten the silk tight, 

 and spread shoemaker's wax lightly on the last binding * ; 

 then clip off the remaining silk at the shank and bend of 

 the hook, and also any fibres that may stand amiss." 



This is Bowlker's description, with a slight alteration 

 of my own. I have endeavoured also to make it more 

 clear, by illustrating, with a cut, each stage of the fly. Of 

 course you are aware that the quantity of ostrich, as well 

 as the size of the hackle, must depend upon the size of the 

 hook you dress. If you want a ribbed body, tie your gold 

 twist in with the ostrich fibre; wind the ostrich up the 



* If the silk was sufficiently waxed, just wetting the tips of 

 your thumb and finger, and wiping it smooth, would be preferable. 



