HOW TO DRESS A PALMER. 159 



one. In the construction of the latter, a small portion 

 of the shank of the hook itself is left bare to fix the 

 wings upon, to thereby neatly form the head. This, 

 however, is formed, to begin in the case of the buzzy 

 or hackle fly, by a few turns of the silk at the extre- 

 mity of the shank ; a little blank is then left for the 

 hackle to fit or fill in ; the body is then to be formed 

 in the usual way. This completed, the hackle feather 

 must be taken in hand, first having been stripped of 

 its downy surplus fibres, the root of the stem is 

 secured by a couple of turns of the tying silk at the 

 shoulder of the fly. The hackle thus secured at its 

 lower extremity, is ready for fitting in. Its point is 

 then to be taken hold of with the tweezers, and two 

 or more turns of the feather given ; the end is then to 

 be secured by a turn or two of the silk, the invisible 

 knot formed, and the fly is made, wanting only the 

 silk end to be cut carefully away to complete the 

 thing. The Palmer is an artificial that is hackled 

 from head to tail, such as the bumbles, caterpillars, 

 etc. The process of body making is identical, in this 

 instance, with the hackle fly just detailed, except a 

 little addition in the shape of herl, a strand of which 

 is wound round the gut and silk, the feather being 

 turned over this, and the bit of tinsel or silk, by way 

 of ribbing, going over the whole, for the sake of both 

 use and ornament, and the fly is made. 



We append a few dressings for the various bumbles 

 and palmers, which, though in some instances deemed 

 fancy flies, are often good killers. 



(Bumble, ordinary). Hackle, white hen's, slightly 



