28 THE SALMON FLY. 



must, if it is to preserve any consistency at all, be made of stiffer and 

 stouter feathers or fibres than those which would hold their own well 

 enough in quieter reaches. But apart from this, a certain degree of 

 movement is absolutely essential to liveliness in a fly, and this movement 

 is the result of the current coming in contact with it. The movement 

 will vary with the strength of the stream or with the amount of " play " 

 put into the rod-top by the Fisherman. Obviously also, the more mobile 

 the wings, hackle and tail for it is these parts which are concerned in 

 the question the greater the effect produced on them by either of the 

 ministering agencies mentioned. Therefore, to get the same amount of 

 life-like motion out of our flies under differing conditions, we must 

 consider, (1) the state of the water ; (2) whether, on the whole, the place 

 to be fished is rough or quiet, and (3) whether our business is to work the 

 rod-top much or little. The motion given to the fly by a steady and 

 regular movement of the rod, is far more effectual, when practicable, than 

 the " hops " and " skips " resulting either from the effect of swirly waters, 

 or from the rod being worked in a clumsy, harum-scarum manner. 



I have said enough, I think, on this point, to enable the student to 

 work out for himself every rider to the problem. It need only be further 

 remarked that, generally speaking, the smaller the fly, the more mobile in 

 proportion should be the hackles and wing-materials. Of these, should 

 the flies be very small, the best hackles are the most transparent ones 

 without any " list " at all ; and the best feathers for the wings are the 

 finest in texture, always excepting "Horns," "Sides" and golden 

 toppings. For the sake of clearness and order in these remarks we must 

 confine our discussion to colour, simply as a quality of the fly considered 

 by itself and without reference to the actual circumstances which will 

 ultimately govern the Anglers' choice in using it. A simple principle 

 guides us here. Uniformity of means is essential to obtaining uniformity of 

 results under invariable conditions. If we have found success under 

 certain given conditions, our aim must be to restore those conditions, as 

 far as they are within our control. We cannot command rain, or sunshine, 

 or cloud ; but in this or that combination of nature's varying moods, we 

 can resort to the employment of those means which have already proved 

 trustworthy. Ah ! there's the rub, for one day last year I " headed the 



