Salmon Fishing. 253 



cannot help fancying too that a long topping 

 may cause a salmon occasionally to come short. 



Talking of toppings, a few fibres of the 

 larger ones in a mixed wing, particularly if 

 the other fibres be of a dark shade, tell 

 wonderfully well. 



For August fishing I am fond of floss- 

 silk bodies, and grouse-hackles. What can 

 be prettier, than neatly tied flies with orange 

 bodies (say) of different hues, glittering with 

 tinsel, and encircled with grouse-hackles, and 

 ornamented with wings of well-selected fibres ? 

 I sometimes think I could rise myself at such 

 a dainty bit, in preference to my ordinary fare 

 of bread and cheese, by the riverside ! Or 

 substitute blue bodies, and darkish orange 

 hackles; how charming they look! Or what 

 can be prettier than a body, the upper part 

 dark mohair, then deep orange floss-silk, with 

 a turn or two of dark green below ; and a small 

 topping for tail mixed with jay fibres ? A 

 few strands of the wood -duck feather, how 



