TROUT-FLIES. 3 / 



length of the hackle, and the thickness of the silk 

 with which the fly is tied. These flies are both 

 simple in construction, and more easily and quickly 

 tied than any flies hitherto made public, so far as 

 I am aware, only a single strand of coloured silk, 

 and a single hackle feather is vised ; and the other 

 flies are made in the same way. The principle of 

 their construction is as follows : 



A strand of common coloured sewing silk (not 

 floss), of the required thickness having been waxed 

 in the manner presently described, take two or 

 three turns over the end of the hook-shank and 

 gut ; lay the hackle on the back of the hook, 

 hollow side upwards, with the large end towards 

 the hook bend ; lap over it with three or four turns 

 of the silk ; spin the hackle on over these turns 

 (the same way round as the silk), leaving some of 

 the hackle over ; then fasten the hackle off with 

 the silk, continuing to work upwards towards the 

 bend of the hook, and lapping over the hackle until 

 the body is of sufficient length ; then fasten off 

 the silk and cut the stem (only) of the hackle almost 

 close to the end of the lapping, so as to leave the 

 fibres in a V-shaped form to represent the whisks. 

 By leaving and lapping over the stem of the hackle 

 and the end of the silk, or by " stripping" the 

 former and cutting the latter off close, the body 

 can be made thick or thin as desired. 



