SALMON FISHING. 1 03 



of perfection without practice and a certain natural 

 aptitude. 



As with Trout-flies so with Salmon-flies, none 

 should ever be put into a fly -bo ok or be otherwise 

 compressed. The elasticity of the hackle fibre is 

 impaired by pressure, and all the fresh " crispness" 

 of the fly is lost. If as soon as made flies are put 

 into a box with others, they will bear any amount 

 of tossing or tangling without injury, and a round 

 tin box, equal in bulk to an ordinary fly-book, 

 will contain quite as many flies and collars as any 

 fly-fisher need wish to take with him to the river 

 side. 



I have already referred to this more than once, 

 but it is in my opinion a point of such great im- 

 portance that too much stress can hardly be laid 

 upon it. This will be better understood when it is 

 recollected that the whole art of fly-fishing, as we 

 practise it, is based on the principle of simulating 

 life, rather than death ; and that between a fly 

 new and crisp, and one which has been long 

 flattened in a fly-book, there is almost as much dif- 

 ference when they are in the water as between a 

 living and a dead insect 



For the arguments bearing upon the question 

 of what a Salmon-fly ought to be the rationale, 



