CHAPTER XVI. 



FLY-MAKING. 



IMPLEMENTS. Hand- Vice, Spring-Pliers, &c. Book for holding materials. 

 MATERIALS. Hooks. Gut. Tinsel. Dubbing. Hackles. Wings. 

 To tie a plain Hackle. To tie a Palmer. To make a fly with wings. 



BEFORE attempting a description of this art, it would be as 

 well to acknowledge that few amateurs attain the neatness and 

 dexterity of those who follow it as a business. To those who 

 have not leisure, or fish but seldom, it does not pay for 

 the trouble and patience bestowed on learning it ; such per- 

 sons had better buy their flies than make them. But to one 

 who has time, and is anxious to become conversant with all 

 that pertains to our gentle craft, there is no in-door occupa- 

 tion so absorbing and time-killing, and one forgets in it 

 little annoyances or heavier cares, and almost finds at home a 

 substitute for the pleasures of the stream. The satisfaction 

 of taking fish is also increased, if it be with the product of 

 one's own skill ; and the angler can adopt any little fancy of 

 his own, and produce exactly the thing he desires, and have 

 his flies on the particular size, shape, or make of hook he 

 prefers ; he can also use the kind of gut he thinks best for 

 drop-flies or stretchers, and gratify any other whim. 



But who can lucidly explain this art ? Few writers make 

 it plain, from Cotton down to Hofland, "Ephemera," and 

 Ronalds, with their elaborate illustrations. So it is with some 

 doubt a? to enlightening the learner that I attempt it, but 



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