338 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



though alluding to something taking place on Benmore, miles 

 away, about " muff's luck." 



The toppings tied on, cut off the refuse butts of the feathers, 

 as before directed, touch with varnish, and allow to dry. 



The last thing you have to put on is the head. Now, it is 

 the custom to make heads of ostrich or peacock herl, but such 

 heads never last, they soon whip out and come to pieces ; and 

 to put in anything that you know will not last is simply absurd. 

 I generally use some small chenille of different colours ; two 

 turns of this well tied off will last, and preserve the tying of the 

 wing from damage for ever. No matter what you use, lay the 

 end of it against the hook on the under side, where we would 

 suppose the throat to be. The herl or chenille lying towards 

 the body of the fly (see Plate XXII, Fig. 7, p. 331), tie it on 

 with one or two turns of the silk, then take one or two turns 

 of the substance and tie it off. 



If the fly be well and properly tied there should be yet a 

 slight fragment of the hook left unoccupied between the head 

 and the eye or loop. Take one or two turns of the silk round 

 this and fasten off strongly, touch with varnish, and hang up 

 your fly to dry thoroughly : it is now complete. In all processes 

 where you touch with varnish allow it to dry thoroughly before 

 you go on with the next process. Fig. 8 shows the head, etc., 

 all complete. 



This is the way which I employ in tying a salmon fly, and I 

 think it is the best and simplest. I puzzled this plan out for 

 myself, never having taken a lesson of a fly tyer in my life, 

 though after I was able to tie a fly I have watched many 

 professors at work. There are other ways, most of which, I 

 think, are more complicated and difficult. There is one plan 

 already mentioned, and which is sometimes advantageous, 

 and that is, when beginning the fly, to use a good long piece of 

 silk, and to commence in the middle of the silk, allowing one 

 end of it to hang down at the shoulder. This comes well in, 

 if a fur body be used, for tying off the hackles, tinsel, wing, etc. 



If a fur body be used instead of a floss one, select your fur, 

 pig's wool, mohair, seal's fur, or whatever the substance may be, 

 pull it into short lengths, particularly pig's wool or mohair, pick 

 out the coarse fibres, and then lay a sufficient quantity along in 

 the palm of your hand and roll it over and over by the fingers, 

 as already directed in trout flies. The body will most probably 

 be too thick, and you must pull off or pick out as much with 

 your dubbing needle as you may think desirable, until the body 



