368 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



of the wilderness, but also on the much -fished ponds 

 and wading - streams of civilization, where small flies 

 and fine tackle are habitually used, have but confirmed 

 my predilection for this fly. If I am correctly informed, 

 it has carried the name of dear Parmacheene even to 

 distant New Zealand, and is there a favorite. From 

 No. 2 down to No. 12 it seems to work equally well, 

 provided the size be proportioned to the special re- 

 quirements of the water to be fished. As bought in 

 the tackle shops, the wing usually carries too much red, 

 and the yellow of the body is too deep. The silver tin- 

 sel should be flat, of moderate width as compared with 

 the size of the fly, and not tarnished. 



Indeed, all silver tinsels should be lackered before 

 use in fly-tying. Silver is one of the chemist's tests for 

 sulphur, the least trace of which turns the metal black. 

 Where coal or gas is burned, sulphur is always present 

 to some extent in the atmosphere, and neither fly-books 

 nor the receptacles in which they hibernate are air- 

 tight. The same effect is produced by the near conti- 

 guity of rubber, or any other body in the manufacture 

 of which sulphur has been used. He who buys a new 

 stock of silver - bodied or ribbed flies will do well to 

 lacker the silver forthwith. A thin alcoholic solution 

 of shellac, carefully applied, will answer, though a cellu- 

 loid varnish is better, if not too thick. 



My second choice is the "Silver Doctor." This fly 

 should have a mixed wing of yellow, white, scarlet, and 

 mallard, not a wing in which turkey - brown predomi- 

 nates. The body is all silver, the tail yellow, and the 

 hackle blue, capped with guinea-hen. The salmon fly 

 known under that name is the proper type. It is a most 

 astonishing combination to that angler who has been 



