104 The American Salmon-fisherman. 



the season in which it is proposed to fish. Though pos- 

 sibly this may not disclose the very best possible fly for 

 that water and time, it is sure to name some that will 

 answer very w r ell. But to render the inquiry of value, 

 the size as well as the kind should be included in the in- 

 terrogatory; and, since both will vary during the season, 

 the question should be specifically limited to the time 

 when it is proposed to fish. 



If this guide is unavailable, if the reader intends to 

 try the Penobscot, for example, the next best course 

 would appear to be to select such flies as the ma- 

 jority of salmon-anglers unite in commending, if such 

 there are. Though almost every authority has his indi- 

 vidual preferences which may not be included in the 

 following list, still few, if any, mention the flies therein 

 contained without praise. With the Jock Scott, Silver 

 Doctor or Silver Gray, Durham Ranger, Popham, and 

 Butcher for the higher-colored flies; and with the Black 

 Dose, Fiery Brown, Brown Fairy, and Black Fairy, for 

 those of more sober hue, in his fly-book, the beginner 

 may venture on his proposed trip without apprehension. 

 He should have at least two better still, three sizes of 

 each. If early in the season, he should be supplied with 

 flies tied on hooks 1 T \ and l T 6 -g- inches long, while 

 during the latter half of the season those on hooks l T -g 

 and 1 T \- inches long will probably be more useful. This 

 is the general rule. But freshets or abnormally low 

 water may render the flies usually appropriate to one 

 part of the season, preferable in the other. It is safer, 

 therefore, to be provided with the three sizes. 



Salmon are by no means so destructive of flies as trout. 

 Six flies of each kind of each size, if leaders tested to eight 



