30 THE SCOTTISH ANGLER. 



and lay it along- the silk, after the wings are formed ; 

 twist together, and then wrap as if the thread were 

 bare, and fasten as above. In making flies, keep all 

 tight, guard against heavy wings and much dubbing ; 

 the fibres of your hackle ought to be short and lie near 

 the head of the fly ; they are intended to resemble legs, 

 which in the real insect are always so placed. Such 

 is our method of fly-dressing, commendable both for its 

 simplicity and expedition. It differs, we find, some- 

 what from that generally practised, being in a manner 

 self-taught, and not encumbered with any unnecessary 

 display. 



And here let us notice what we have seen broached 

 concerning artificial flies, namely, that they are seized 

 by trout for no likeness that they possess to any living 

 insect, but merely because of their motion and seeming 

 self-existence. We can barely see what is meant by 

 this distinction. The illustration, however, follows. 

 Anglers may observe, say these theorists, that when 

 fish rise well, they will not refuse your most maimed 

 and torn imitation ; nay, a bare hook, with hardly a 

 vestige of feather upon it, will entice them as readily 

 as your most carefully dressed fly. This we admit, for 

 we are of opinion that colour and size alone cause the 

 allurement needful to raise trout, and that shape is of 

 small matter. Still we have no doubt that the artifi- 

 cial fly is taken as a known and particular insect ; some- 

 times in a drowning and sometimes in an active condition ; 

 since, be it observed, in many rivers the caprice of trout 

 is truly remarkable on this point, and they will reject 

 at times, and on clear water, where every insect is vi- 

 sible, those very flies which shortly before were seized 

 with avidity ; and this rejection is owing, as may be 

 seen, to a new succession of ephemerae, occasioned by 

 an atmospherical change, at which period the imitation 



