FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



He who aspires to " busk his ain flees," which is good Scots for '• tie 

 his own flies," will never learn the trick by reading written instructions; 

 whereas three or four lessons from an expert will suffice to ground him 

 in the principles, by practising which he will soon attain proficiency. 

 I shall not attempt more, therefore, than to indicate the general struc- 

 ture of a salmon-fly, naming the different parts of which it is usually com- 

 posed, so that the reader may follow the recipes given for constructing 

 a few representative patterns. The patterns themselves are innumerable; 

 has not Mr Hardy, of Alnwick, been at the pains to give a list of 345 

 different salmon-flies in his book on *' Salmon Fishing " ? Many of them 

 are slightly varied according to the fancy of different dressers; but 

 anglers are far more apt to encumber themselves with too many patterns 

 than to find themselves at a loss from having too few. In Figure 6 are 

 shown the different parts of a salmon-fly, whereby the beginner may 

 follow the directions for dressing the following dozen patterns. When he 

 has accomplished that, he may give rein to his fancy and indulge in any 

 amount of variety. 



1. "The Gordon." Tag, silver wire and lemon floss; taiU golden 

 pheasant topping with fibres of tippet; butt, bronze chenille; body, 

 one -third golden floss, remainder crimson floss, ribbed with broad 

 silver tinsel and silver twist; crimson hackle over crimson floss, 

 sky-blue hackle at shoulder; wing, two short tippet feathers, two 

 crimson cock's hackles, a few fibres of crimson, blue and yellow-dyed 

 swan, bustard and peacock herl, jungle -fowl at cheek, topping over 

 all. 



In tying this or any other salmon-fly, tackle -makers often make the 

 mistake of putting too much feather in the wing. It is far better to fish 

 with a fly rather bare and thin than with one overdressed. "The Gordon" 

 originally came from Deeside; but if I were limited to the use of one pat- 

 tern in any river, this is the one I should choose, for it is the only fly for 

 which, when harling in the Tay with three rods astern, each with a dif- 

 ferent fly, I have fancied that salmon show a preference. It is an excellent 

 fly on any size of hook and in all fishable conditions of water or weather. 



2. "The Bulldog." Tag, gold tinsel and ruby floss; tail, a topping 

 and blue chatterer feather; butt, black chenille; body, lower half, 

 flat silver twist with red Indian crow feathers tied in above it in 

 " Jock Scott " fashion, with a turn of black chenille over the tying; 

 upper half, French blue floss with flat silver twist and blue hackle 

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