TO DRESS TROUT FLIES 327 



required spot ; and having tied on the tip of the hackle, you 

 must carry the silk on to the shoulder of the fly, and fix it with 

 a half hitch.* Then take hold of the peacock's herls and wind 

 them round and round the hook side by side, up to the silk, 

 when seize them down with two or three turns of the silk and a 

 half hitch (see Plate XXI, Fig. 2) ; cut off the refuse herl, not 

 too closely ; and touch the fastening with a drop of shellac 

 varnish to make all secure. Then take hold of the hackle either 

 with the fingers or spring tweezers, and taking care that the 

 fibres point in the right direction, wind it carefully on up to 

 the head of the fly, until it reaches the silk, pressing the fibres 

 down so that they point tailwards while doing so ; then seize 

 it down and tie off as in the case of the herl (see Plate XXI, 

 Fig. 3) ; cut off the refuse, not too closely, leaving a scrap 

 of the quill still on, which lap over and tie down firmly, 

 finishing off with the silk to the end of the hook ; snip the 

 silk off and touch {the tie with varnish, and you have a red 

 palmer. 



Of course all other palmers are tied in the same way. When 

 they are very large and thick-fibred, two or more hackles are 

 used. Some tie them both on together, and wind them on at 

 the same time ; and some use one up first, and then tie on 

 another. The first plan is the best. 



A winged fly is simply a palmer with the addition of wings, 

 and with three-quarters of the legs taken away (Fig. 4 shows 

 the wings simply added). For the legs of an ordinary fly, 

 prepare a small piece of hackle of the requisite length of fibre ; 

 tie the end on at that part of the hook where the thorax of the 

 fly would be. This may be done either when the hook is being 

 tied on to the gut, or afterwards, when the body is being 

 warped on, a turn of the silk being taken over the herl or 

 dubbing to secure it while the hackle is being tied on. The silk 

 is then wound up to the shoulder ; the body worked up to it 

 and tied off ; two or three turns of the hackle are then taken, 

 by which time that too will reach the shoulder, and can be tied 



* This is one way, and the one commonly adopted. My own plan, how- 

 ever, is to lash in the tip of the hackle while I am tying the hook to the gut, 

 when the hackle is to be either from the middle of the body or at the shoulder 

 only : this plan makes the body less clumsy. Of course, if it is to run from 

 head to tail or tail to head rather the hackle should be tied in at the same 

 time as the herl or crewel. As it is very liable to break and the body then 

 comes to pieces, to prevent this, some persons spin the herls round on the 

 silk by twirling them together ; then turning them on the hook, silk and all, 

 and avoiding the hackle, carry silk and herl to the head simultaneously, and 

 tie oft the herl with the silk without trouble, and snip, off the end. F. F. 



