OX STRIPPING AXD PREPARING HACKLES. 461 



XIV. fig. 14). Then the silk being well waxed, lay the 

 fur along it, and twirl the silk between the finger and 

 thumb, so as to twist the dubbing round it and incorpo- 

 rate it with the silk as in fig. 13. Wind thediibbing on as 

 high up the hook as may be required ; then, detaching 

 and pulling off any surplus dubbing, finish the silk off in 

 the usual way, and touch with varnish. With the dubbing- 

 needle pick out the stray hairs, and such of the fur as may 

 seem superfluous, trimming off with a keen pair of scissors 

 (taking care in these rather delicate processes not to sever 

 the silken thread), until the body is satisfactory in its 

 proportions. When fur dubbing is used, the silk is often 

 apt to get too frayed for tying off the hackle and wing, 

 and some difficulty is experienced in tying in the tip of 

 the hackle. The latter process can, as I have said, be 

 carried out when lashing the gut on, so as to avoid the 

 needless return of the silk up towards the head of the fly. 

 I prefer this plan myself. The dubbing can then be 

 wound on, the single thread tied off, the hackle wound 

 over it, the same thread tying off the hackle and wing 

 afterwards. But such as may prefer it can use a double 

 thread, by commencing to lap on the gut in the middle of 

 the silk, beginning with a half hitch, and leaving half the 

 silk hanging down at the head, and so wind on to the tail 

 with the other half (see Plate XIV. fig. 7), the tail thread 

 being used to work the dubbing, while the upper thread 

 ties off the hackle and wings. This is certainly the safest 

 plan, should the dubbing thread fray at all. 



There are some feathers used as hackles which in their 

 natural state would be too thick in the quill and heavy in 

 the fibre for a delicate trout fly, as grouse and woodcock 

 hackles, &c. These are, like the hackles in some in- 

 stances, as I have before mentioned, stripped on one side 

 (see Plate XIV. fig 11). The object is to get off as much 

 of the quill as possible without breaking the feather ; and 



