DRY-FLY PRELIMINARIES. 115 



these remains no essential but the flies, and a little 

 pair of fly-tweezers with which to put them into the 

 box and take them out, an implement which is in 

 theory exceedingly desirable and useful. In practice, 

 I find that I use my fingers and lose my tweezers. 

 But this is wrong of me, and I mention it only as a 

 warning, not as an example. 



Flies for dry-fly fishing differ from those with 

 which the novice is already acquainted in their 

 build, and also in being tied on hooks with a small 

 eye at the end of the shank instead of being 

 mounted on gut. In one respect, however, they 

 resemble their forerunners ; they are almost as the 

 sands of the sea in mumber. Here, again, I would 

 counsel the novice to begin with only a few out of 

 the many patterns. At least one expert fisherman 

 and writer states that experience has taught him to 

 be content with four only, and there can be no 

 doubt that a man might so, or even more, limit 

 himself and yet do very well. Personally, however, 

 I prefer a somewhat larger variety, and a fly-box 

 which I am using now contains ten patterns. Six 

 of them are medium olive, red, blue, and ginger 

 quills, red spinner, and Wickham ; these are all 

 winged flies. There are also four flies without 

 wings, " hackle flies/' as they are called blue 

 upright, red upright (these are really wingless 



