184 



make our knot, or loop our trace down through, instead of the gut-loop turning 

 up, when it has been soaked it would turn down ; therefore, it is perfectly clear 

 either of these fastenings must be made down through instead of up through 

 the metal eye. 



It may be argued that knots throw each strand of gut out of the straight 

 line, but practically, " the pull " is just the same whether the gut-trace be a 

 knotted one or only a single strand married to the line. 



Flies can be made with much slighter bodies not by any means a trivial 

 consideration for many of the Irish rivers. Nor need there be any difficulty in 

 dressing them ; but in answer to another correspondent the work would 

 eventually become loose, unless the hooks were prepared to receive it. What 

 I suggest, first of all, is to run a single layer of closely-coiled, well-waxed 

 gossamer silk along the shank, whipping in underneath a single strand of gut 

 (tapered at the point), extending far enough to secure it, to serve the purpose 

 of " making off" the tying silk. 



All fly-dressers know the ordinary loop is used for that. The gut could 

 be nipped off a shade longer than the iron, so as to project in the same manner 

 as a loop, and there you have it. But after the body is completed it would be 

 better to cut the gut flush with the work, because the wings could be fixed 

 firmer on merely a fresh single layer of the fine silk, and also because the head 

 would be smaller. I am, &c., 



GEO. M. KELSON, 25th April, 1885. [Extract.'} 



Mr. H. P. Wells, author of " Fly Rods and Fishing Tackle," &c., &c., to 

 Mr. A. N, Cheney, author of Fishing with the fly. 



" I like the Pennell hook better than any other I have tried, especially for 

 salmon fishing. . . . showed me some very good Sproats he said 

 he got from you. Where did they come from ? But I think the Sproat 

 inferior to the Pennell, any way. The fish plays too near the barb, and indeed 

 it must be in use all the time to prevent his escape. I am inclined to attribute 

 the proneness of the Sproat to break at the barb partly, if not wholly, to this. 

 A. large and powerful fish is wrenching and twisting on it all the time. Accord- 

 ing to my ideas the fish should play on the bend of the hook, and quite away 

 from the barb, which should only be brought into use during some sudden and 

 unusual evolution on his part. In this respect the Sproat is inferior to any 

 hook I know of unless it be the kinsey. I tried the Pennell salmon fishing, 

 and also this September in Maine using nothing else, and am confirmed in my 

 opinion that for fly-fishing large flies at all events it is the hook of hooks." 



" There can be no question that a fly so made will last much longer, be 

 less likely to snap off in the back cast, swim straighter, and that the connec- 

 tion between the fly and the outside world will be much more closely dis- 

 guised." . . . 



" Mr. Pennell has improved on this feature [the eye] by turning it down- 

 ward, as shown in the figure, instead of upward. The draft line or in other 

 words, the sureness of the hook is certainly improved by the change. It 



