82 TROUT FISHING 



between the hook and the gut, whilst we wind 

 the hackle round the hook, &c. 



Now the red flies for early fishing are first, 

 the black-red palmer, made with a peacock's 

 feather for body ribbed with gold twist, and a 

 black-red hackle for legs and wings, as they say ; 

 to make this fly, you splice the fine end of the 

 peacock's feather and the gold twist together 

 with the gut to the hook, as before directed, as 

 our first step ; then having spliced as high as the 

 gut on the hook, you place the peacock's feather 

 along the waxed silk, and taking both between 

 your right finger and thumb, you twist them 

 tightly together, till you have lost sight of the 

 silk now covered by the close revolutions of the 

 peacock's feather ; this you then wind down, as 

 though you were making a fur-bodied fly, and 

 the hackle being spliced on, you next bring down 

 the gold twist regularly, and then secure both 

 the silk and the peacock's feather by a turn or 

 two of the silk, waxing it afresh; then having 

 cut off both twist and peacock's feather, you may 

 conclude your fly as above directed. The great 

 advantage of putting on the peacock's feather in 

 this manner is that it never wears out, an annoy- 

 ance which will often be complained of, if it be 

 merely by itself warped or wound down over the 

 hook ; the teeth of the trout catch in the coils of 

 the feather, and pull it out, and speedily the fly 

 is useless. 



Use the same hackle; and as a -body, cow's 

 hair of a dark red or purple red, such as you may 



