86 THE PRACTICAL ANGLER 



as the feather is fastened on by the thread the whole 

 way down. 



A fly is more difficult to dress neatly than a 

 spider. Having selected the gut and hook, take the 

 feather of which you intend to make the wings, and 

 stripping off as much as you require, fold it up, 

 taking care that the lightest coloured side of the 

 feather is outside, and lay it beside the other 

 materials. It is quite common in fishing-tackle 

 shops to see the wings put on singly that is to say, 

 consisting of merely one fold of the feather. This 

 makes a beautiful fly out of the water, but when 

 once wet, is of little further use, as the fibres run to- 

 gether, and form a mere thread. The wings should 

 consist of several folds of the feather, as then they 

 keep their original shape, wetting improving rather 

 than injuring their appearance. 



In dressing a fly, commence in the same manner as 

 in dressing a spider, carrying the thread up to within 

 three or four turns of the end of the shank ; then 

 take the feather, of which you are to form the 

 wings, firmly between the forefinger and thumb of 

 your right hand, lay it to the bare end of the shank, 

 whip the thread firmly round it two or three times, 

 and then cut off the root end of the feather as close 

 as possible. To put on the wings neatly, and make 

 them lie properly, is the most difficult part of fly- 

 making, and care must be taken to lay them on so 

 that, when fastened, they will be the proper length, 

 as it does not do to cut them. The wings being 

 now fastened on, but in the whole, divide them, and 



