78 TROUT FISHING 



direction. Now being satisfied with the body of 

 the fly which is completed, there but remains to 

 wind on the hackle for legs and wings, and fasten 

 the end that it may not slip, and in so doing we 

 shall have made the head to our fly. Now, still 

 holding our hook as at first and throughout the 

 whole process, clasp the root of the hackle between 

 your right fore-finger and thumb, and wind the 

 hackle in the same direction that you passed your 

 hand in forming the body, at first over the little 

 fur which intervenes between the point of attach- 

 ment of the hackle and the bare silk below ; make 

 your turns at first more distant from one another 

 than afterwards, but judge how close they should 

 be by the length of your hackle, and the distance 

 intervening between its point of attachment and 

 the extreme end of the hook, remembering that 

 you must leave a little of the hook at the head 

 uncovered (about one-sixth of the whole length 

 of the straight part of the shank) . In winding 

 on the hackle, you must be particularly careful 

 not to allow one pass of the feather to rumple or 

 overlap any portion of another; the fibres should 

 incline outwards and a little downwards, towards 

 the tail of the fly; and to obtain the proper 

 direction of the fibres and prevent any overlaying 

 of the turns of the feather, you may, by a half- 

 twist of the stalk of the feather between your 

 right fore-finger and thumb, cause each successive 

 layer of feather to lie smoothly up over the pre- 

 ceding one, which will keep also the fibres out of 

 your way, and allow you to see the precise position 



