626 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Nov. 16, 1912 
A Little Talk About the Anglers’ Flies 
By THEODORE GORDON 
T HE study of the insects born of the water 
and forming a considerable portion of the 
trout’s food is one proposition. The irnita- 
tation of these delicate creatures is another and 
requires much time, labor and close attention to 
detail. The hard-worked business or profes¬ 
sional man, whose recreation is angling, can by 
close observation become sufficiently acquainted 
with the insects most favored by the trout for 
all practical purposes. He will, if he is a be¬ 
liever in imitation, have sufficient knowledge of 
the insects that prevail upon the waters he fishes, 
to guide him in the selection of his artificial flies 
and will know naturals when they appear^ also 
their seasons, and when to expect them. He has 
not much leisure for fly dressing, nor for the 
endless task of searching for and buying per¬ 
fect materials that will satisfy him and enable 
him to realize his ideals. Many of the best 
amateur fly tiers purchase a portion of their 
stock, thus saving time for the creation of a few 
favorite patterns. They know that enormous 
stocks of well dressed artificials are carried by 
the best shops, and that they can match most 
flies in size and color. However, their fingers 
are often busy in leisure hours, and there is 
great satisfaction in killing trout with the work 
of one’s own hands. 
Those of us who have actually lived upon 
the trout streams in youth and in maturity have 
been favored by opportunity. We have not the 
diversions, the excitement and keen competition 
of life in a great city. In the country, sport and 
all things pertaining to it becomes of great im¬ 
portance to us, and fishing and shooting become 
to a great extent our only recreations. We spend 
our leisure in or near the water, and the habit 
of observation grows upon us. The flies that 
interest the angler and the trout, aside from 
those land insects occasionally blown upon the 
water, or like the ants, seek it in the winged 
state of their own will, may be divided into a 
few great families and may be recognized by 
the position of their wings and their habits when 
in or on the water. These insects are the day 
flies (Ephemeridce ), the stone flies ( Perlidce ), 
the case worms or caddis flies ( Phryganidce ) and 
gnats and midges which belong mostly to the 
order of the Diptera. There are other flies, of 
course, but these are by far the most important. 
We wish to know in advance what insects may 
be expected at certain times, and their sizes and 
colors, as we do not care to be tying flies when 
we would be fishing. Then we ascertain the time 
of the rise; that is, the hours of the day when 
these insects will undergo the transformation 
from larva, nymphs or grubs, into winged flies, 
and this varies with the seasons and temperature. 
Yet day after day it may occur at nearly the 
same hour. I fancy that the temperature of the 
water has a good deal to do with it. Early in 
the season the rise is usually after mid-day and 
before 3 o’clock p. m. As the weather becomes 
warmer, the flies may appear early and late in 
the day, but the best of days for the angler are 
those when the rise is at short intervals, or when 
a few flies continue to hatch out all day long. 
The day flies come from a larva that lives in 
the gravel, under stones or in moss or mud; the 
caddis flies from little cases of sand and gravel 
or bits of wood ; the stone flies from larva and 
the gnats and midges from the water and the 
land. A well made artificial fly having a natural 
appearance and having good colors put into it 
may answer for more than one species. 
Dun for instance is a common color among 
insects, from gray to almost purple, a dark blue 
dun. Yellow is another standard color, from a 
pale fleshy yellow through delicate primrose to 
orange. Brown is quite fashionable, particularly 
for evening wear, although in spring it is quite 
proper in the morning and may run from a soft 
yellowish brown to brown red. Black is never 
out of season and is comme il faut for bugs and 
gnats of many sorts. 
I have even collected a black spinner, a per¬ 
fect day fly with clear wings. 
The family names of all the gnats and 
midges need not trouble us over much. We want 
only the position of the wings, color and size of 
these tiny creatures. Many of the day flies and 
caddis are extremely small, but are easily recog¬ 
nized. The larger trout are not much given to 
midging on our mountain streams, unless these 
insects are superabundant. If any man wishes 
to tackle a tough proposition, let him try for a 
big trout that is rising at tiny insects, in quiet 
water that is as clear as glass (and as smooth). 
Unless the fish happens to be unsophisticated and 
will accept a fly of respectable proportions, the 
task is a difficult one. Then, if ever, one wishes 
for invisible gut and the hand of a fairy. Trout 
that are feeding, or ready to feed, in rough or 
crinkly water are easy if the surroundings are 
such that we can present the fly from the correct 
position and place it so that it floats down natu¬ 
rally. 
A fly dressed after a day fly may answer for 
one of the caddis of similar coloration. Pull off 
the tail if you like, but it assists in balancing and 
floating the fly. When the caddis flutters, its 
wings are up. When in the air and sunlight, its 
buzzing wings and the legs give one the impres¬ 
sion of a little halo around the body. The stone 
flies often raise their big wings when running on 
the water, and when laying eggs of course their 
wings are up. Because of the color of the wings 
the English yellow Sally is often used for one 
of our caddis flies, but a simple yellow hackle 
of the right shade will often kill better, and I 
have seen a yellow tag do good work. Hackle 
flies may be made to float and kill well. I have 
used what are called spent spinners a great deal, 
and these are supposed to represent the day flies 
in the very last stage of their existence, but mine 
are not always spent. Some insects carry their 
eggs in a bag at their hinder ends, ’and when this 
is conspicuous, it must be quite attractive to the 
trout. The insect may deposit its eggs in one 
parcel by a single dip in the water, but then 
again it may not. I have seen them come down 
from a height, make one dip and fly away, but 
many flies dip a number of times in one place, 
then fly a short distance and do it again. I have 
seen an .insect come out from a bush and pound 
up and down like a piece of machinery, then fly 
back to the bush. The female stone flies are 
heavy and clumsy in laying eggs. They are some¬ 
times caught by the current and carried down 
stream a short distance before they can rise 
again. 
The common stone fly appears on these 
waters in limited numbers throughout the season, 
but there are other species of this fly that have 
a short season during which they are plentiful. 
One of these is quite fat and more yellow than 
the common species. Some of the western rivers 
have great hatches of stone flies. We have at 
least two species of May fly ( Ephemera ) and 
probably many more. I have had specimens of 
three that I thought differed most decidedly in 
coloration and even in size, but color is not very 
reliable in distinguishing the species in fish and 
flies. Some familiar insects rise in multitudes 
one year and are scarce the next season. Any 
angler of experience can select an assortment of 
artificial flies that will kill well on all waters 
where the dry-fly is good medicine. As the years 
pass, he picks up a pattern here and there and 
stows it away in his box for a special occasion. 
He has known days when one little shabby fly 
made all the difference between a full creel and 
a few small trout, and he has an eye for any fly 
of perfect coloration. 
One day last June I would have (cheerfully) 
paid $2 for just one more fly. I had tied only 
one, as I fancied it too dark for the season, and 
the hackles were too rare to waste. However, 
there was a tremendous rise of these dark caddis 
flies. Many were hatching out, while older in¬ 
sects were laying eggs and doing stunts in the 
air over the water. All the water and the air 
over it seemed full of excitement and the trout 
were crazy. I broke my hook- in extracting it 
from the hard roofing of a big trout’s mouth, 
and there I was with the fish rising under my 
nose. I tried pattern after pattern and did kill 
one trout with a very dark hare’s ear, but that 
was all. I put in the broken fly by way of ex¬ 
periment and rose six large fish one after an¬ 
other. We do not have these opportunities often 
in a season, but I shall not stock up with this 
fly. Its period is too short, as next day the 
