270 FLIES AND KNOTS. 



It is no small matter to give a list of the requisite fly- 

 making materials, but the following are a few of the 

 most important : 



Silk of various colors, wax, nippers, scissors, a bench 

 vice, picker, spring pliers, varnish, hooks and gut, tinsel 

 of gold and silver, twisted and plain ; hackles of all 

 colors, feathers of the mallard, teal, woodcock, golden, 

 silver and argus pheasants, turkey, macaws, curlew, 

 ruffed grouse, ibis, blue-jay, black-bird, fresh water rail, 

 guinea fowl, common chicken, and any and all other 

 birds that may come in the angler's way ; dubbings of 

 mohair, pig's hair, wool, seal's fur, rat's, mole's and squir- 

 rel's fur ; floss silk of all colors, and peacock's and 

 ostrich herl. Dyed feathers had better be purchased of 

 the tackle makers, and should include blue, purple, 

 orange, yellow, brown, green, crimson and scarlet hackles, 

 and yellow wing feathers. 



There is a Limerick hook now made with the shank 

 turned over so as to form a loop into which the gut is 

 inserted and the trouble of tying the gut is avoided. 

 They have come into general use among the Irish and 

 Scotch fishermen, and are a great aid to the man that 

 ties his own flies. The gut in ordinary fly fishing wears 

 out just above the hook, a difficulty that is entirely 

 removed by this improvement, and it is by no means so 

 ugly or ungainly as might be supposed. This is no new 

 discovery, but has been practised with common Ameri- 

 ican hooks for a considerable period, and might be 

 advantageously used in many kinds of fishing, and ap- 

 plied to all hooks. 



Hooks are numbered in the most singular manner, no 



