166 
FOREST AND STREAM 
April, 1919 
HOW TO TIE THE ARTIFICIAL FLY 
WORKING YOUR MATERIALS INTO A WATERPROOF FLY OF SUFFICIENT 
RESEMBLANCE TO NATURE TO CAUSE NEITHER FEAR NOR DISTRUST 
By DR. HARRY GOVE 
succeeded you will judge when I tie the 
flies which will appear in the last article 
I shall contribute on practical fly dress- 
ing. The method I will pursue will be to 
illustrate all the different movements I 
make in tieing a fly, from start to finsh. 
This will place in your possession all I 
have learned regarding the subject in 
over half a life time. Just in proportion 
to the information imparted to a novice, 
in like ratio will be the rapidity of his 
advancement. The fly we will construct 
will have the self same body as the trans- 
parent winged one I construct and be 
a facsimile of it, with but one exception, 
that is, the wing shall be made of feath- 
ers. I have selected this method of dress- 
ing as it is much easier to apply feath- 
ers to the wing than the above mentioned 
material. At all events I will tie both 
of these flies for your inspection. In 
making a fly there are certain materials 
and tools which are absolutely necessary. 
Of the tools the most useful to an ama- 
teur is the fly-tier’s vise, facilitating in 
a very great degree progression in the 
art. Next in order, two pairs of scissors 
of small size, one with curved points, the 
other straight, a pair of fly-tier’s pinch- 
ers must certainly find a place on your 
table. The use of these is to grasp 
the butt end of a small hackle when ap- 
plying it to a very small hook, as in the 
making of a midge. A small pair of 
watch-maker’s tweezers and a pair of 
pinchers for bending the shank of the 
hook completes the category of the nec- 
essary tools. A small alcohol lamp must 
also be purchased. As to materials the 
list is a much longer and elaborate one. 
There are but two of our necessities that 
are liquid. One to be used instead of the 
ordinary wax, composed of white rosin. 
T he selection of the material which 
should enter into the makeup of 
artificial flies is so important that 
it demands more than ordinary attention. 
Our consideration is, what materials will 
make a waterproof fly of sufficient re- 
semblance to nature to cause neither fear 
nor distrust to the fish to which it is 
presented on the surface of the lake 
or stream? Conisdering the difficul- 
ties which lay in the path of direct imi- 
tation, the best we can hope for is that 
our fly, in its general appearance, taken 
struct you how to dress a fairly pre- 
sentable fly in quite a short time, ad- 
vancement in the art requires practice, 
and attention to detail; a few failures 
must not produce discouragement. 
I REMEMBER when I looked at the 
flies tied by the Scotch expert who 
gave me the few lessons I ever had in 
the art, the idea that I could ever equal 
them seemed hopeless. I made up my 
mind, however, that I would if it took me 
twenty years. Whether or not I have 
The first steps in fly making 
as a whole, may pass for the living in- 
sect it is intended to duplicate. It would 
be the task of a life-time to collect the 
materials which are employed in the 
manufacture of the ordinary feather fly 
and supposing it complete, I would sur- 
mise that the greater part of it could be 
consigned to the waste-basket, not only 
without deteriorating the lures with 
which they are constructed, but being a 
factor in their improvement. Bear in 
mind that the fly I now propose to in- 
struct you how to dress is not the ordi- 
nary feather fly, but a fly, the body of 
which is waterproof and whose wings 
are made of feathers. In starting out I 
may remark that a great many writers 
on the practical manufacture of artificial 
flies claim it an easy matter to dress one, 
it is not so. It certainly might be quite 
a simple task to tie the flies they refer 
to and illustrate in their drawings. These 
are not the flies we will make, for 
their imagination that their products 
were artistic lead them astray. When 
we finish tieing our fly you will read- 
ily perceive whether the above state- 
ment I have made has fact for its found- 
ation. It will be a pleasure to me to in- 
A little furthe.'" advanced 
