110 NOTES ON FISH AND FISHING. 



when needed. The multiplier in question is a great im- 

 provement on all former ones, it being almost impossible 

 for the wheels, though increased in number, to get fixed. 

 If I may be pardoned the oxymoron, I would say it is a 

 perfect instance of " simple complexity ." 



London-tied artificial flies are known for their excellence 

 wherever in the wide world a fly is thrown ; though by 

 this remark I by no means wish to decry the flies made 

 elsewhere. Lessons on the art are, I believe, given by 

 several London tackle-makers ; but personally I have 

 always felt that " life is too short," except for those most 

 miserable of all men, who, like the frozen-out gardeners, 

 " have no work to do," to make it worth while to tie one's 

 own flies. 



By the way, what a worry it is to many anglers when fish 

 are rising, or even when they are not, to have to put on 

 a fresh fly, to uncoil the whisp of flies in their books, and 

 straighten the gut ; and then how many flies are destroyed 

 by replacing them hurriedly in their ordinary books 

 again ! I have always avoided all this by using a fly- 

 book made many years ago at Bakewell in Derbyshire. 

 It is about a foot long, and five inches broad, with each 

 leaf double, and folding in towards the back. On the 

 top and bottom of each leaf alternately is a piece of flannel 

 about four inches square, and on this each fly can be 

 hooked separately, the gut being perfectly straightened 

 beforehand. The length of the book does not really 

 increase the likelihood of its falling out of your pocket, 

 and it prevents its turning crossways as ordinary 

 books do, or getting mixed up with other things, 

 and so rendered difficult of extraction. I have never 

 seen one of this Bakewell pattern in use among 



