How to dress Winged-flies. 135 



and tie a loop-knot, or hold it till you have cut off all 

 superfluous feather, &c. and then fasten off; take three 

 inches of floss orange silk and tie one end in, close 

 to the hackle ; warp your waxed silk up to nearly the 

 length you require for the body; follow with the floss 

 silk, held with your tweezers over this, and fasten by 

 a loop-knot or two of the waxed silk ; cut off the su- 

 perfluous floss-silk ; make another loop-knot and tie in 

 a piece of gold-tinsel, pass twice round and fasten off 

 with another loop-knot, putting in at the same time two 

 hairs of a squirrel's tail for forks; make another knot 

 and cut all superfluous ends, &c. clear ; set up the wings 

 with your finger and thumb, and pick out the hackle 

 nicely with your needle, and the fly is dressed. If you 

 have managed all this neatly, you will be surprised at the 

 good imitation you have made. To set the wings so that 

 they stand up evenly and neatly, like the wings of a 

 drake-fly or butterfly, is a great test of the Fly-dresser's 

 skill, and to do it well requires great attention and 

 practice. 



If it is a dubbed fly that has to be ribbed with tinsel 

 or floss-silk, these should be tied in before the dubbing is 

 twisted on to the silk thread, and left to be ribbed evenly 

 and regularly over, after you have twirled it on as before 

 described. 



When you wish to make your fly with a head of either 

 tinsel or herl, &c. this you must add when you have just 

 tied on the wings, and then proceed as above instructed. 



For winged trout flies it is best not to run the hackle 

 all down the body ; it makes them too heavy and rough 

 for fine bright waters. Such dressing may be used bene- 

 ficially if you are making flies for large rivers or lakes, 

 or in the case of salmon flies. Generally, however, the 

 hackle is best wrapped under the shoulders, being the 

 natural place for the legs. Care must be taken that the 



