THE BRITISH ANGLER'S LEXICON. 13 



a bird, or feathers from the tail, for legs ; and hair or fibres 

 of feathers for tails. How these are put together is found 

 in a separate article. There are divided opinions as to the 

 relative merits of colour, shape, and size in dressing an 

 artificial fly. Some authorities pay more attention to one 

 of these objects and some to the others. It seems a sensible 

 plan to copy in every particular the natural fly, and it is 

 obvious that if one article is to be produced which is to 

 represent another, the closer the imitation is carried out the 

 better chance of it succeeding in its object whatever that 

 may be, as in this case to capture fish, by offering them an 

 artificial article which they are to mistake for the real one. 

 Now it is difficult to know what colour a fly presents to a fish 

 looking up through the medium of a body of water of varying 

 density and colour ; it may be very different to what the 

 angler thinks it is, and consequently all that can be done is 

 to study carefully both by reflected and transmitted light 

 the colours of a living fly, and mix with care the various 

 coloured materials that will go to make the same colour in 

 the artificial, or as near it as possible. There is no question 

 whatever that some practical anglers who have studied 

 carefully the flies they see, are often able to suggest either 

 an addition or the withdrawal of a colour from the body or 

 the wing of an artificial fly, which will cause it to deceive 

 better than it originally did. Instances have been given 

 over and over again of fish taking a fly so often that it has 

 become a mere shred of wool and feather, and although a 

 new fly, seemingly exact the same, has been put up to 

 replace the worn one, yet the fish refused to take it, and 

 stopped until the worn-out veteran was restored to its place 

 upon the cast. Now this must have been caused by colour 

 alone, as both size and shape were gradually changing. 



