FLIES 31 



should always be soaked for half an hour in luke- 

 warm water before knotting or tying. (See Frontis- 

 piece.) 



Flies offer a wide variety of choice in tint and 

 colour of dressing, and the angler must be advised as 

 to the particular flies which are on the water and in 

 season. There are also several styles of dressing 

 for instance, dry fly, wet fly, spread winged, detached 

 bodies, reindeer bodied and nature series with gauze 

 wings. But for the tyro the ordinary wet or dry fly 

 dressing is best to begin with. 



Salmon flies are not tied in imitation of nature, as, 

 strangely enough, no such fly exists, but evidently 

 the salmon is attracted by the appetising appearance 

 of the artificial fly and rises to it greedily. 



Most species of fish can be lured with a fly. Gray- 

 ling have a particular fancy for red and silver colour- 

 ing. Perch will take a large and gaily coloured fly 

 in fact, they prefer a large size 2-hook fly to a 

 dainty trout fly. Chub, like perch, feed greedily on 

 large flies, and they provide good sport to the bottom 

 fisher and fly fisher. Favourite chub flies are the 

 Soldier Palmer, Red Tag, and the large Coachman or 

 Alder. The favourite chub fly of the late Mr. Francis 

 Francis was silver bodied with a furnace hackle and 

 washleather body and dark turkey wing with sprigs 

 of peacock herl. 



Fly fishing for dace is finer fishing and but little 

 inferior to trout fishing. A fine line and some good 

 trout dry flies tied on the cast with two droppers will 

 yield good sport. The Apple Green Dun, General 

 Black, Golden Earwig and Black Palmer with silver- 

 ribbed body are all first-class killers. 



Among sea fish, few species will decline a suitable 



