ON FLY MAKING. 127 



tion of which need trouble no individual, as it certainly 

 does not the fish. As we have before pointed out, nature 

 is far too often imitated from memory, conventionality, 

 and tradition. Eeproducfcion in art is a totally different 

 matter from reproduction in nature. The first -named 

 means in reality degeneration. Through such a process, 

 truth, ideality, and efficiency are lost at each succes- 

 sive step down the ladder of routine. Let the aspiring 

 student study and take his ideal and model from nature, 

 and then progress in true worth and efficiency will be 

 effected. 



The first thing to note when a strange natural is taken 

 in hand to copy, is the position of the wings; as if it be 

 "flat-winged," it may be dressed hackle, or palmer-wise, 

 instead of being winged; whilst if it be up- winged, it 

 should be dressed with wings nearly erect, and broad in 

 proportion. The reason for this is obvious. The latter, 

 when upon the water, float buoyantly along, over both 

 broken and still water, which, however, is scarcely the 

 case with the first-named, as the majority of these insects, 

 being land flies, naturally fail to take to the water, like 

 the "up-winged" natives; therefore to imitate their 

 buzzing action the copies are usually made up hackled 

 and wingless. The secondary point for consideration is 



THE CHOICE OF COLOR, which, we would impress upon 

 the mind of the tyro, requires the exercise of a certain 

 amount of judgment; as what may appear to be the cor- 

 rect thing to look down upon, will in all probability be 

 a glaring departure from the tint required when viewed 

 from underneath. It must ever be remembered that the 

 fish, from their position below the natural fly and the 

 copy, see through them; when viewed thus they will ap- 

 pear, as a general rule, several shades lighter. To dis- 

 tinguish the correct color of a fly as presented to the fish, 

 we know of no better method than to place it in a clear 

 glass of water, and hold it between the eye and the light 



