FEATUHES OF A SALMON FLY. 27 



bunchy and crookedly set on, acts like a helm put hard a-port, one wing 

 has twice as much stuff in it as the other, and so " wobble," " wobble " 

 goes your fly. The body, moreover, has just twice as much fur in it as 

 it ought to have, and so the fly will not fish deep. The head is enormous, 

 and whenever the current is strong enough, produces the fatal string of 

 beads or bubbles of light. The gut loop is defective, it is too long and a 

 hinge is formed at the point of junction with the hook, to help the fly 

 to plunge and rock. The attachment of the single gut to the loop is 

 incorrectly managed, and the wings turn towards one side against 

 stream, and towards the other side down stream. But I shall have 

 occasion to treat fully with these matters hereafter. 



A gradual tapering of the body finds its prototype in nature and is 

 subservient to the good working qualities just discussed. 



A graceful arching of the entire wing is not only an element of 

 symmetry, but also helpful to mobility the quality which follows 

 symmetry in order of importance. It is evident that this arching not only 

 assists towards the general animation of the wing, but by its form helps, 

 to a certain extent, in keeping the play within bounds and especially 

 within the same plane of action. For not only do feathers, set on to 

 curve rightly, resist tendency to side-play and maintain the play in one 

 direction, or, as is said, in one plane, and so all get a fair chance of 

 display in the order of the intended harmony of colour, but they also resist 

 tendency to play too far aloft and away from each other. The wing 

 maintains its character in all respects in full unbroken integrity. To this 

 ruling many may take exception. I well remember giving a highly- finished 

 fly to a friend who, declaring it ' ' only fit for a glass case " instantly rubbed the 

 feathers the wrong way. I then inquired if he thought " that sort of 

 finishing touch would make much difference." " All in the world," he 

 confidently replied, as he " firmly believed in the roughest looking 

 patterns." " Then you had better not mount that one," said I, but I 

 followed this up with : " Directly the stream catches it all the feathers will 

 be washed back into their original position." (He used it.) 



The mobility of a fly is mainly determined by the roughness of the 

 water, the method of working the rod, and the construction of the fly 

 itself. It is obvious that in turbulent, rough-and-tumble waters, a wing 



