MATTER OF EQUIPMENT 17 



fishing one day with a cast of three English 

 flies, had particularly good luck with a certain 

 one of the three, and subsequently had the pat- 

 tern copied by the famous old-time fly-tier, 

 Harry Pritchard. At that time the fly was 

 christened the Beaverkill, it being evident, from 

 the facts as stated, that the English name of 

 the pattern was unknown to the parties. 



From the story as told in " Familiar Flies " 

 it may be gathered that even the persons who 

 introduced the " Beaverkill " to American wa- 

 ters in time lost sight of the fact that the fly 

 was originally dressed after an imported model. 

 Personally, I am sure that the Beaverkill is 

 none other than the " silver sedge, " a well- 

 known English pattern used frequently in both 

 wet and dry fly fishing, and I am certain that 

 anyone who will take the trouble to compare 

 the two flies side by side will quite agree with 

 me. 



As to the basic principle of trout fly-fishing, 

 that of approximating with the utmost fidelity, 

 in the dressing and manipulation of the artifi- 

 cial fly, the shade, shape, and movement of the 

 natural fly, various " schools " have arisen from 

 time to time in advocacy of the greater impor- 

 tance of coloration as compared to size and 

 shape (within reasonable limits, of course), or, 



