FLIES AND KNOTS. 255 



CHAPTEE XXVII. 



FLIES AND KNOTS. 



IT is generally considered that fly-making cannot be 

 taught bj written instruction, but this depends some- 

 what on the intelligence of the scholar, who must not 

 undertake to conceive the result before he has waxed his 

 thread, but should be content to follow the directions 

 word by word. At all events there is something that 

 the experienced, and an immense deal that the partially 

 instructed beginner may add to his store of knowledge, 

 and if the following directions will not make a novice 

 perfect, they may aid him when he has had a few per- 

 sonal lessons. To tie a fly, the gut should be singed in a 

 candle or bitten at one end, and the hook and thread 

 waxed to insure the hook's not coming off, which, when 

 a fine fish has it in his mouth, is a heart-rending casualty. 

 Take a few turns with the thread on the shank of the 

 bare hook, nearly to the head, then applying the gut, 

 whip it firmly on by working back to the bend ; under 

 the last turns at the bend insert whisks for the tail dub- 

 bing, floss or herl for the body, and tinsel if desired. 

 The floss, silk and dubbing are generally spun or twisted 

 in with the thread, and then wound back toward the 

 shoulder, but they may be wound on before, with, or 

 after the thread. Care must be taken that the turns 



