HOW TO DRESS A SALMON FLY 331 



In referring to the various parts of a salmon fly, I must 

 refer the reader to Plate IX, Fig. 8, page 211 : a, is the 

 tag ; b, the tail ; c, the butt ; d, the tinsel ; e, the body ; 

 /, the hackle ; g, the shoulder hackle ; h, the under wing ; 

 i, the upper or over wing ; j, the cheek ; k, the head ; and 

 /, the loop. 



Some persons also dress a salmon fly by the aid of their 

 fingers alone*, and others, particularly with the more compli- 

 cated flies, use a vice and all the other implements already 

 mentioned for trout flies ; but the vice to be used for salmon 

 flies must be larger and more powerful than that employed in 

 the making of trout flies. Again, some persons tie the gut to 

 the hook as in trout flies ; and though this is the neater plan, 

 perhaps, and makes the fly swim more accurately, it is not safe, 

 as the gut at the head of the fly soon gets wounded, and then 

 your fly is useless for ever. Some lash a piece of stout single or 

 treble gut, doubled on to the shank of the hook, leaving a small 

 eye just above the end of the shank, and through this eye a 

 strand of gut is passed and made fast by a knot, hitch, or jamb ; 

 the other end, having a loop, is looped on to the casting line. 

 This is, perhaps, the more clumsy and coarse plan, as it thickens 

 the shank of the hook and adds bulk to the fly. Some, again, 

 employ hooks which have an eye already forged at the 

 end of the shank ; and though this in time is apt to fret 

 and wear the gut somewhat, it is, if the tie be looked to 

 now and then, not only the neatest and safest way, but 

 the fly is safe until it is pulled to pieces or smashed against 

 a stone. The fly tyer can adopt any of these plans which he 

 may think fit. The gut loop is the most common plan, so 

 I will briefly describe it. 



Take the best bit of salmon gut you have, round and thick 

 it is the best economy, one ordinary strand will cut into about 



* Professional tyers seldom, even with salmon flies, use a vice. Their 

 fingers answer all purposes, and they get on so much more rapidly than the 

 amateur, and obtain so much more precision, by carrying out only one pro- 

 cess at a time when tying flies in bulk or large numbers. For a certain 

 time, for example, they will tie nothing but bodies, and then having selected 

 a good stock of the various coloured dubbings required, no time is lost in 

 hunting for each separate colour. There they lie ready to hand, and a pinch 

 is picked off one after the other as it is required, and the tyer goes on tying 

 bodies, perhaps two, three, or four dozen or more, all of the same pattern, 

 until the dubbing is exhausted ; the consequence is, that if any fault is made 

 in one body, it is instantly corrected in the next. After this hackles, and 

 then wings, are served in the same way. The result of this practice is won- 

 derful accuracy, quickness, and neatness. F. F. 



