ON HACKLES. 



THE hackles or palmer flies have been handed through 

 ages from angler to angler, dressed in the same way, 

 and with the same materials, but without any descrip- 

 tion as to their originals, which seem unheeded or lost 

 in the fame of their counterfeits. It is the general 

 impression they represent, or are derived from, hairy 

 worms, or those caterpillars that are hairy, to which 

 they bear a kindred and very striking resemblance ; 

 but the angler never uses the hairy worms as baits, 

 and they are never seen upon the water ; if they were, 

 the hackles (for excellence of imitation) when immersed 

 in the water would take the lead of all artificials. The 

 appearance of the hairy worms may be natural to the 

 fish like the maggot, clapbait, and other larvae al- 

 though the fish never see them. Close as the hackles 

 imitate the hairy worm, they seem to be or have grown 

 into ingenious theories more than original imitations. 

 Their attractions as baits has adapted their brilliant 

 materials into many fanciful varieties without founda- 

 tion and probably of no semblance to anything on the 

 water which, in the absence of originals, cannot be 

 other than casual or trial baits, which at the best are 

 but a precarious dependance. The skilful craftsman 

 throws his imitations of the flies among the hatching 

 hordes, that are rousing the fish and baiting the waters 



