328 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



off, when the wing is put on, and all is finished. But be sure 

 not to overhackle your fly it makes it lumpy and unnatural ; 

 as a rule, nine fly tyers in ten overdo this. No fly has more than 

 six legs, and the imitation is none the more faithful for having 

 sixty. Some flies have the hackle put on from tail to head, like 

 a palmer or the sedge fly, as I have shown ; others have this 

 same make, but the hackle is much more thinly laid on. When 

 this is the case, strip off the fibres from one side, and only tie 

 on the single side left on the quill (see Plate XXI, Fig. 10). Be 

 sure you strip off the right side, or you will find the hackle will 

 not roll on. To tie on the wing, select carefully a fragment of 

 some feather, as the wing of jay, pheasant, starling, or black- 

 bird, and strip it off neatly, taking care not to split or separate 

 the fibres. The wing being held between one finger and thumb, 

 the butt ends of the fibres are pinched together by the other, so 

 as to compress them without, if possible, bending or doubling 

 up the wing (see Plate XXI, Fig. 12). This is then laid to the 

 head of the hook and set in the direction it is desirable to make 

 it stand, and two or three turns of the silk taken over it, the 

 silk being then fastened off in the usual way. 



If a pair of wings are to be set on, it is as well to pick a strip 

 of two separate feathers from both wings of the bird ; by this 

 means the feathers will set properly, and each wing of the fly 

 will have the bright and glossy side outwards, and exposed to 

 the gaze of the fish. Lay the strips side by side, and hold them 

 between the finger and thumb. Then nip the butts of the 

 feathers with the other finger and thumb, so as to get the wing 

 into as good a shape as possible for tying on. Lay the feathers 

 to the hook, and take two or three turns of the silk firmly over 

 them to secure them, and if the set of the wings be satisfactory, 

 part them with a needle, and clip off the refuse. It is always 

 advisable to make flies not less than twelve hours before using, 

 so as to allow the varnish to set. Some flies require tails, and 

 some tinsel to mark the joints of the fly. When this is the case, 

 after lashing on the gut and taking one half hitch to secure it, 

 lay the tail to the hook just above the bend it is usually 

 composed of two or three fibres of some feather and lap it on 

 securely. Tie in the tinsel with the dubbing (see Plate XXI, 

 Fig. 5) ; and after having wound on the dubbing and fastened 

 if off, wind the tinsel on spirally, with a gap between each turn, 

 and tie off in the same way as the dubbing. A complete fly of 

 this kind is shown in Fig. 6. In some flies it is the custom to 

 wind on the tinsel the reverse way to the hackle, and by wind- 



