128 THE . SCIENTIFIC ANGLER. 







in such a position as to be able to see underneath the in- 

 sect. The precise shade of both legs, wings, and body 

 will then be accurately ascertained. 



How TO DRESS THE FLY. What we hereafter endeavor 

 to expound may deviate somewhat from the general rules 

 laid down by former writers; but when we state that the 

 method of construction to be hereafter divulged has been 

 to us as good as a patent since we originated the same, 

 we trust our motive in finally making public the result 

 of our researches in this by no means unimportant branch 

 of our delightful art, will not be misconstrued; as has, 

 we fear, been already the case with more than one pre- 

 decessor and originator of improvements in artificials, 

 whose works have been calumniated by individuals who, 

 to hide their own incompetency, have adopted the plan 

 of criticising the achievements of men of known merit. 

 But we digress. It is customary to make all up-winged 

 artificials with drooping wings. These, when wet, or 

 when drawn through the water, lie perfectly flat on the 

 back of the hook, and when this is the case with a dun 

 or spinner, or other ephemeral, it is a glaring departure 

 from the original. To dress up-winged flies so as to re- 

 tain their all but erect attitude in the water, and that 

 when subjected to hard and heavy use, we give the fol- 

 lowing: Let us suppose for the time being that the in- 

 tending operator has already fashioned the body, and has 

 in readiness the material for its remaining appendages, 

 viz., the legs and wings. Now, instead of next placing 

 the legs, and lastly the wings, he must reverse the oper- 

 ation by attaching the wings first, the addition of the 

 legs completing the process. To particularize, the wings 

 should not be detached prior to being put upon the fly. 

 The feather should also be ample in dimensions. A half- 

 inch breadth of fibre from a small bird's quill feather, 

 doubled so as to form the separate wings when attached, 

 is about the amount requisite for the March brown, two 



