Flies <md Fly-fishing. 367 



prowling about the woods, or shooting at a mark with a 

 rifle, or in some other similar way. Often the fly-tying 

 box is produced, and the word is, " Well, John, what 

 shall we tease them with this afternoon ?" Thus, on 

 joint suggestion, very many different combinations have 

 been tried, and so over twenty years ago was the " Par- 

 macheene Belle " born. It was a success, and since then 

 I have used it four -fifths of the time when fishing the 

 head-waters of the Androscoggin River. It somewhat 

 resembles the "No Name," figured opposite page 108 of 

 Orvis & Cheney's book, " Fishing with the Fly." The 

 body is lemon-yellow mohair, wrapped with silver tinsel; 

 tail two to four strands of white and scarlet ; hackle 

 white and scarlet (I have sometimes wound both hackles 

 on at the same time, and sometimes the white first and 

 the scarlet afterwards, and over the white, capping it as 

 it were ; the latter is the better) ; wings white, striped 

 with scarlet, the white decidedly predominating. 



Unless I am deceived, these large trout take the fly 

 not as an insect, but as some form of live bait. If this 

 is true, an imitation of some favorite form of food is 

 in itself sufficient under all circumstances, provided it 

 is so conspicuous as readily to be seen. To test this 

 theory the fly in question was made, imitating in color 

 the belly-fin of the trout itself. 



Place the whole catalogue of known flies on the one 

 hand, and this single fly on the other, and force me to 

 choose and confine myself to that choice, and for fishing 

 in those waters I would choose the " Parmacheene Belle " 

 every time. I have tried it in sunshine and rain, at noon- 

 day and in the gloaming, and at all times it has proved 

 successful. 



Twenty years' further trial, not only on the waters 



