90 FLIES, FLY-DRESSING, ETC. 



a needle raise a few of the hairs of the dubbing, 

 close to the head of the fly, to give it a feathery 

 appearance. 



If the fly is to be dressed with a feather or 

 hackle, after having put on the wings lay the hackle 

 on as in dressing a spider, with the root end towards 

 the bend of the hook ; fasten it on and cut off the 

 root end. Next take hold of the end of the hackle 

 with your brass nippers, and turn it once or twice 

 round the hook as close under the wings as possible ; 

 then wrap the silk three or four times round it to 

 make it secure, cut off the remainder, and carry the 

 thread by itself down to where you intend finishing. 

 In a large fly it will be an improvement to put on 

 a little dubbing of the same colour as the body of 

 the fly, after having put on the hackle. The most 

 expeditious way of dressing flies is to dress say a 

 dozen of one kind at a time, selecting and arranging 

 all the materials necessary before commencing. 



The following illustration shows what appear- 

 ance the flies should present when finished. 



The first of the accompanying flies is a spider, 

 the second a fly dressed with dubbing, and the third 

 a fly dressed with a hackle. The reader will observe 

 that these flies are very light in the make ; that 

 there is not more dubbing than cover the thread ; 

 that the hackle is put on very sparingly ; and that 

 the dressing is not carried far down the hook. 

 Anglers accustomed to shop-made flies may think 

 this is carried to an extreme, but we have met 



