GENERAL SALMON FLIES 249 



never been brought together in any work before, and indeed 

 I may say never could be by anyone who has not enjoyed 

 the peculiar and favourable facilities which I have for obtain- 

 ing access to the most strictly preserved waters. There are 

 many persons who hold that half a dozen flies are enough to 

 kill salmon on any river in the kingdom, and who will despise 

 the notion of such an extended list of flies. To such irreverent 

 scoffers and heretical unbelievers I have nothing to say. Let 

 them indulge in their repertoire of a bit of old Turkey carpet 

 and a live barn-door rooster. They are, to the artists who 

 attain eminence in the delightful occupation I have en- 

 deavoured to illustrate, what the chalker of pavements 

 is to a Landseer. Equally well, no doubt, would they land a 

 salmon if they hooked him with a clothes prop, a jack line, 

 and a meat hook.* 



Hooks are varied so much in size, not only by different 

 makers but even by the same makers, and the numbering and 

 lettering becomes so troublesome and complicated, that I 

 have given a scale of Limerick hooks of sizes numbered for 

 reference, as the easiest and simplest mode of expression. f 



I have described a number of general flies which are more or 

 less used upon several rivers with success ; and these will 

 always, when the angler is unacquainted with the special and 

 pet varieties for the fish of the river he is bent on plundering, 

 form an efficient corps de reserve, and amongst them a killer 

 or two will certainly be found. 



The Doctor. This is a very general and deserved favourite. 

 Commencing, then, at the bend of the hook, tie on as a tag 

 three or four turns of fine gold twist. Tail, a single gold 

 pheasant topping, over this a turn of scarlet crewel ; body, 

 pale blue floss silk, with hackle a shade or two darker, wound 

 on from tail to head (this is varied at times with blue jay's 

 feather) ; silver tinsel (in large flies of all kinds the tinsel may 

 be rendered more conspicuous by the addition of some twist 

 wound on beside it). At the shoulder a brown grouse, part- 

 ridge, or bustard hackle may be wound on ; a blue jay is some- 

 times used over the blue hackle. The wing is a mixed wing, 

 containing fibres of bustard, dark turkey, argus pheasant, and 

 claret, blue, and yellow fibres of stained swan feathers, the 

 latter predominating. In smaller flies mallard and pintail are 



* Reference to the above paragraph has been made in the introduction to 

 this edition. ED. 



t Unluckily Mr. Francis's scale has never been adopted as the standard ; 

 so the scale followed by Messrs. Alcock is given on Plate XXIII. ED, 



