142 ON FLY MAKING. 



for the practice of this pleasing art. We often hear 

 it asserted " that life is too brief to admit of fishermen 

 making their own flies ; " every art and pursuit de- 

 mands a given amount of application, more especially 

 until a thorough practical knowledge of it is acquired. 

 To claim an exception in the case now before the 

 reader, would certainly be unjustifiable ; but in the 

 particular circumstances to which we have made 

 allusion, it cannot, we think, be denied that it is an 

 advantageous accomplishment to the fly - fisher. 

 Another fact, well-known to all practitioners, whether 

 amateur or professional, is, that the creditable con- 

 struction of well-known artificials requires a certain 

 amount of studious application. Many dozens have 

 frequently to be made and discarded before the 

 hand acquires the accurate " knack " for each 

 different description of fly; therefore with well-known 

 " standards," the professor has unmistakably the ad- 

 vantage, large quantities of each of those most 

 difficult to. make being produced before another 

 variety is taken in hand. 



In fly-making, a natural specimen of the fly it is 

 desired to imitate should always be placed before the 

 artist. Man's greatest achievements in the fine arts 

 are admired, and justly so, in proportion to their 

 faithful accordance with the originals of nature. 

 Mere reproductions of these are not nearly so 

 much esteemed ; for, though the original canvas may 

 be valued at its weight in gold, even good copies are 

 of small comparative worth. We have often deplored 

 the perverseness of individuals who, misconceiving 



