THE BRITISH ANGLER'S LEXICON. 27 



scissors. With ordinary fingers a good fly can be con- 

 structed. The first operation in tying a trout fly is to 

 "arm" it; that is. fasten the hook to a length of gut or 

 hair, this is done as follows : Take the hook *by the bend 

 in the finger and thumb of left hand, coil the gut up into a 

 ring of about one inch in diameter, leaving two inches of 

 the gut standing out at right angles to the ring ; moisten 

 this end of the gut in water or the mouth, and flatten about 

 three-eighths of an inch of it by means of the teeth. Have 

 ready a length of silk thread of whatever colour is desired, 

 as fine as possible, consistent with some strength to stand a 

 fair pull. The length of silk thread should be at least 

 twelve inches. Now take a small piece of shoemaker's wax 

 about the size of a pea, hold one end of the silk thread in 

 the teeth, and wax it well. Some keep their wax in a 

 bit of leather, so as not to soil the fingers, but this is not 

 necessary as slightly moistening the finger and thumb will 

 prevent the wax adhering to them, and the heat of the 

 fingers helps the wax to run easier over the silk. Take two 

 or three turns of the end of silk thread round the shank of 

 hook, about a quarter of an inch off the extreme end of 

 shank ; now place the flattened piece of gut underneath the 

 shank of hook against the silk, hold it there by the finger 

 and thumb of left hand and begin lapping it evenly and 

 closely with the thread from about one eighth off the point 

 of shank, until it comes opposite the point of barb, 

 when the thread is fastened by the half hitch (q. v.j. Now 

 lay this hook and gut down and prepare the materials for 

 the body, wings, and legs, as this is a winged fly that we are 

 describing. Take a pinion feather of the bird from which you 

 wish to form the wings, it may be that of a starling, a grouse, 

 a woodcock, &c., but the easiest wing to begin with is the 



