THE TROUT. 



103 



succeed in forming flies suitable for his different fishing- 

 grounds, with very little trouble. 



How to make the Artificial Winged Fly. (Hofland.) 

 " There are several modes adopted in making the artificial 

 fly ; one is, to tie the wings on the hook, in the natural pesi- 

 tion, in the first instance ; another method is, to place the 

 feathers for the wings in a reverse position, in the first in- 

 stance, and naturally afterwards; and the third and last way, 

 is to tie the wings on the hook, after the body is made, instead 

 of beginning the fly with them. 



" The most expeditious way of completing a number of 

 flies, is to have e\ ery necessary material arranged immediately 

 under your eye, and every article separate and distinct ; all 

 the hooks, gut, or hair, wings, hackle, dubbing, silk, and wax, 

 ready assorted and prepared for instant use. The hooks re- 

 quire to be sized for your different flies ; the gut requires the 

 most careful examination and adjustment; the hackles have 

 to be stripped, and the dubbing to be well mixed ; the silk 

 assorted, and to be of the finest texture ; and the wings to be 

 tied the length of the hook they are to be fastened to, in or- 

 der that the fibres of the feather may be all brought into the 

 small compass of the hook. This previous trouble not only 

 saves time, but insures a degree of neatness that is otherwise 

 almost unattainable. 



" The tying of the wings is thus performed : a piece of 

 well waxed silk is laid in a noose on the fore-finger of the left 

 hand, the wings or feathers are put on the under part of the 

 noose, and at the distance of the length of the wing required ; 

 the thumb is then applied closely to the feather, and with one 

 end of the noose in the mouth and the other in the right hand, 

 the noose is drawn quite tight, and the silk is then cut within 

 an inch of the knot, to leave a handle by which to hold the 

 wing. If the thumb is not closely pressed, the feathers will 

 be pulled away. 



