424 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



on all sides, regularly unequal, if I may use the term; it 

 matters little whether it floats on its " beam ends," or swims 

 on an " even keel." The reader will note the difference in 

 the shape of the hooks mentioned above, by referring to the 

 plate of hooks on page 61. 



Gut. — Stretcher flies should be tied on full lengths of fine 

 gut. Droppers should be made on short, stout pieces, so that 

 the fly will set well out, and at right-angles from the leader, 

 and not lap over it, or twist around it. For droppers a single 

 length of gut may be divided into at least three parts, for as 

 I have already said, the piece to which a dropper is tied 

 should not be more than five inches long. 



Wbapping-Silk. — If the silk is fine and strong it matters 

 little about the color, for the only place where it is visible 

 after the fly is finished, is at the fastening off of the head. 

 The best silk I have ever seen is kept by the English and 

 Irish tackle-stores, and is made expressly for the purpose. 

 The fine three-cord silk used for sewing machines, No. 000, is 

 the best we can get here. 



Tinsel. — Silver and gold tinsel, both flat and twisted, are 

 required to rib the body, or tip the end of it. For Trout-flies 

 the flat is chiefly used ; in Salmon-flies all four of them will 

 most likely be required. This article is kept sometimes by 

 trimming-stores, or where the trimmings for military clothing 

 are manufactured. The Irish tackle-stores have it made on 

 purpose for tying their own flies, and to sell it to amateur fly- 

 makers. When I have not been able to get it in any other 

 way, I have taken the broad woven strips of tinsel, from 

 around pieces of Irish linen, and drawn or ravelled out the 

 particular kind I wanted ; it is not as suitable, though, as 

 that sold by the tackle-stores. 



Dubbing. — This is the material of which the body of the 

 fly is composed. It may be mohair, seal's wool, pig's wool, 



