195 



row, some distance, if they scent game beyond, and 

 the parcel is then to be tied with a string. The man 

 who does this with the precious means of his sport, can 

 sleep easy, with no nightmares of merciless moths to 

 disturb his mind. ' 



As for the colors of flies, we can only say they should , 

 be of all colors. Their hues are infinite, and their name 

 is legion, and forever changing at that. Old and well 

 known varieties are continually coming up under new 

 names, till no man can keep the run of them. What 

 with the alterations of the names of flies, and the im- 

 provements in the learned names of fish, it l^as got to 

 such a pass that the poor angler no longer can honestly 

 tell what he catches, nor what he takes it with. If the 

 fly dealers, on one hand, and the savans of the Smith- 

 sonian Institute on the other, keep on, we poor simple- 

 minded fishermen had better give up, or we shall soon 

 know as little what we are talking about as other 

 people. 



There are delicate shades and differences of color in 

 flies which affect their killing qualities whatever writers 

 who love to generalize may claim. Every angler has 

 known a half worn out fly at certain times, although 

 its feathers were partly gone and its color almost washed 

 out, prove more taking than a fresh one of precisely the 

 same kind. There are times when trout and salmon 

 will accept simply one fly and no other. These cases 

 are rare, but they will occur. No rule can be given to 

 meet them, and the flies used in diflerent localities are 

 so entirely different that no special directions can be 

 given concerning their selection. Let the angler have a 

 fairly well flUed book, and then if he is visiting an un- 

 tried stream let him consult some one who has fished 

 it before him. The salmon flies for American waters 



