40 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



But the appearance of the flies themselves was a sur- 

 prise of the first magnitude. I had often wondered, in 

 the half-conscious way to which the angler is prone 

 when rod in hand, why this fly was such a killer. I be- 

 lieve I found out then. Held in the hand, it is really 

 quaker-like in the sobriety of its color scheme. Any- 

 thing more quiet and unobtrusive would be difficult to 

 design. But in the water it was "a horse of another 

 color." As to general appearance, it was then decidedly 

 impressionistic, as, indeed, if I may rely on the hundreds 

 of experiments I have tried, is the case with all artificial 

 flies, except when viewed at very short range and with 

 a strong sunlight from directly behind the observer. 

 No definite outline or detail of construction was notice- 

 able. Something in motion was there, but just what 

 it was I think would puzzle any one to say, not already 

 informed, when viewed through three or four feet of 

 water. 



At the initial glance at any object, or number of ob- 

 jects, our attention involuntarily first fixes itself on the 

 most conspicuous feature ; for example, the highest 

 light of a picture, the most striking colored dress if the 

 object viewed be a throng of people. Until we have 

 mentally disposed of this feature, all others produce an 

 impression so indefinite as hardly to be worthy the name. 

 Half the stock in trade of the ordinary sleight-of-hand 

 performer is this involuntary action of the human mind. 

 He suddenly throws his wand with violence upon the 

 floor. Though nine-tenths of those present may really 

 know just why it is done, the attention of all, influenced 

 by sight and sound, is involuntarily diverted to the point 

 where the wand strikes, and the performer in the in- 

 stant does the crucial part of his trick unobserved. 



