70 FLY-DRESSING. 



be carried down nearly the whole length of the shank, 

 to where the turn of the wire commences, or else, for 

 variety's sake, confined immediately under the wing, so 

 as to resemble only the legs of the insect. When so 

 applied, it is expedient, in some cases, to complete the 

 body by the addition, either of a little floss silk or of 

 dubbing taken from a hare's ear, water-rat skin, &c. 

 In putting on dubbing, take care to twist it well up 

 with the dressing thread, by means of the thumb and 

 forefinger, before commencing to form the body. It 

 should be applied, as well as the hackle, very sparingly. 

 I cannot reconcile myself to the taste for bushy flies 

 exhibited by some anglers. As imitations of the natural 

 insect, they are caricatures at the best, and although 

 not refused on general occasions by hungry and hasty 

 fish, are nevertheless ill adapted, from the circumstance 

 of the barb of the hook being choked and muffled up, to 

 strike and secure them. 



No trouting flies, used purely as such, on most of 

 our Scottish rivers, are a whit the better of tinsel. To 

 adopt an intermixture, however, of gold and silver 

 thread in the body of loch flies is generally advisable, 

 on those lochs especially, such as Loch Tummel, 

 Ledgowan, Ness, &c., where the trout are of a large 

 description. Tinsel, I may also state, is a favourite 

 addition to the materials of sea-trout, whitling or 

 finnock fly-hooks. This is not, be it remarked, a general 

 rule, for the fish alluded to, in clear waters, will often 

 prefer a plain, dark-hackled fly of small dimensions, to 

 one that is gaudy, or seemingly apportioned in size to 

 their weight and feeding powers. 



Although the method of dressing a trouting fly above 

 described^ is the one I generally adopt, and such as for 

 many years I have found to be at once expeditious and 



