874 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 3, 1911. 
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gin-bright chalk-stream is more successfully 
fished with a tag the red of which is of a deep, 
but still rich, tone. In the same way a brighter 
tag may be used to advantage on a dull day, 
and vice versa; for in variance with the general 
dressing of the fly the red tag should form a 
decided contrast to its surroundings. And this 
holds good in connection with the use of red 
in any way in connection with fishing. 
For the benefit of those of my readers who 
have not yet given the red tag a trial, and to 
further substantiate my high opinion of it I give 
H. S. Hall’s dressing, and his remarks thereon: 
“The red tag is generally regarded as a gray¬ 
ling fly, but at times it does wonderfully well 
among trout. The brighter the day and the 
hotter the sun, the better does this fly succeed. 
It is not generally known that when trout are 
‘smutting’—that is, feeding on any tiny midge 
which baffles all imitation—they will often take 
a small red tag ravenously. The accepted dress¬ 
ing is as follows: Body, peacock herl, short 
and fat, with a tiny red tag of floss silk, wool, 
or scarlet ibis feather; at the shoulder should 
be wound a dark rick red hackle; hook, o, oo, 
or ooo, new scale. Floss silk looks very well 
when it is dry, but it shrinks up when wet, and 
often loses its color. I have always found wool 
much more killing.” 
I fully agree with what Mr. Hall has to say 
concerning this fly, with the somewhat im¬ 
portant difference that I much prefer the ibis 
feather tag to either silk or wool. As previous¬ 
ly pointed out, I think there can be no doubt 
that the real attraction of the red tag is the tag 
itself; and, that being so, it naturally follows 
that the addition of a red tag to other patterns 
of flies should have a profitable result—which, 
as a matter of fact, it has. 
The Coch-y-bondhu is another wonderfully 
good fly; -add a red tag to it and there is very 
little to choose between it and the red tag as 
an all-round, successful lure for trout and gray¬ 
ling; indeed, on certain waters I know of the 
Coch-y-bondhu with the addition of a red tag 
is even preferred to the red tag proper. The 
Coch-y-bondhu, if dressed correctly, is of slight¬ 
ly more sombre hue, black and red, as the name 
implies, being the predominant colors instead 
of red only. Hence the body should be of 
darker peacock herl, and the hackle should be 
a furnace cock’s, i. e., red with black butt. This 
fly, without the tag, is especially useful on a 
close, cloudy day; add a red (ibis feather) tag 
to it and you have a grand fly for brilliant, sun¬ 
shiny weather. 
We all know what a “tailing” fish is from 
bitter experience. I certainly consider a “tail¬ 
ing” fish to be far more exasperating than a 
“smutting” fish; it absolutely ignores any of 
the orthodox flies, and continues to stick its 
tail out of the water in sheer contempt of the 
angler’s efforts. You may try him even with 
the red tag (fly), and perhaps fasten into him, 
but he will most probably refuse it, be it ever 
so deftly presented to his notice. Try him with 
a ginger-quill of fair size—hook o or i—to 
which has been added a tiny red tag,' and you 
stand a very good chance of basketing him. 
You may put such a fly over a “tailing” fish— 
so long as you do not “put him down”—until 
you fairly worry him into noticing it. Should 
he prove very obstinate and refuse the ginger 
and red, put a blue-dun or olive-dun, to which 
has been added the tiny red tag, over him, and 
see what they will do. 
Most of the duns, gnats, and spinners, with 
the addition of “the bit o’ red,” will be found 
very useful for other than “smutting” or “tail¬ 
ing” fish. All trout are more or less “finick¬ 
ing” at times, and when their palate requires 
extra tickling the “little bit o’ red” will often 
do the trick. Again it will happen that fish 
feeding freely on the natural fly rising at the 
time will refuse the most correct and artistic 
presentment in feather and silk of that fly. 
Then is the time to try the same patterns, with 
the addition of the red tag, and test the value 
of the tip. Even with an artificial May-fly the 
red works wonders at times; and that king of 
trout-flies, the March-brown, is improved now 
and again in a similar manner. 
From all of which it may be gathered that I 
am in favor of utilizing—under certain circum¬ 
stances—“the bit o’ red” with any artificial 
trout fly. But, of course, with the exception of 
the red tag proper and the few other patterns 
that are dressed with a red tag, such as the 
Zulu, etc., the ordinary patterns, without the 
red tag, should be given a first and thorough 
trial in the ordinary way. “The bit o’ red” 
may be resorted to when all else fails. In 
which connection it may be added that that is 
the time it is most deadly; and, further, when 
an orthodox pattern is killing in an orthodox 
conditions, often enough the addition of a red 
tag would be disadvantageous, and to have re¬ 
sort to it under circumstances would be a mis¬ 
take. 
“But,” it may well be asked, “if we are to 
adopt your advice and give the red tag a trial 
with any and all patterns of trout-flies, surely 
that means doubling our stock of flies—which 
is already far too big—and that, maybe, on the 
off-chance of getting an occasional fish which 
we might not otherwise basket?” 
Nothing of the sort. The only patterns that 
need be dressed with and without ibis feather 
red tags are those one uses mostly on this 
water or on that; for instance, the March-brown 
on this water, the Coch-y-bondhu on that, and 
the claret and partridge on the other. “The 
bit o’ red” can be used with all other occasion¬ 
ally successful patterns after the following 
manner: Take some pieces of an old white kid 
glove and dye them various depths of scarlet 
color; then cut them up into tiny pieces, about 
an eighth of an inch square. Store them in an 
envelope, or, better still, a pill-box, and, as they 
are required for use—of varying depths of 
color, as recommended in the first part of this 
article—stick them on the hook, well over the 
barb. They will answer all practical purposes, 
although, perhaps, hardly so well as the ibis 
feather dressed in with the fly. 
Before leaving this part of my discourse I 
would like to remind my readers that when a 
'certain great authority in the angling world 
suddenly sprung on us the astounding theory 
that fish were not able to distinguish colors, he, 
in order to prove his assertion in so far as 
trout were concerned, elected to fish for fario 
in the May-fly season with a fly built of one- 
color materials. The color he chose was 
scarlet! And, sure enough, with a scarlet May¬ 
fly he actually succeeded in basketing several- 
trout. It would be most interesting to learn 
if that same authority has continued to use 
scarlet May-flies ever since! 
Trout are by no- means the only fish that 
are influenced by red. The roach-fisher will tell 
you that paste into which has been worked a 
little vermilion often secures fish when the ordi¬ 
nary plain paste fails. And so with gentles; 
when these baits are just “turning” they as¬ 
sume a more or less red hue, and are then a 
killing lure. The pike fisher has still more rea¬ 
son to bless “the bit o’ red.” One of the most 
deadly of all spoons is the “Colorado,” and it 
has a red tassel trailing behind in which is 
hidden the treble hook that generally does the 
trick. An ordinary spoon painted red inside is 
another deadly lure for pike; and so is an all- 
red large-size phantom minnow. By-the-bye, a 
small all-red phantom minnow is a capital lure 
in many waters from salmon and trout. An old 
and. alas! departed angling chum of mine used 
to be very fond of, and clever at, spinning, for 
pike, and a favorite dodge of his was to attach 
a red tassel to one of the flying triangles of 
his flight. Doubtless many of my readers have 
met with many other experiences where red has 
been responsible for a successful day’s fishing. 
I have often heard it remarked that salmon 
cannot possibly take a prawn, as, fished in fresh 
water, for any food with which they may be 
acquainted, seeing that if they feed on prawns 
at all in a natural manner they would recog¬ 
nize them only in the dark garb of life; it is 
only when a prawn is boiled that it assumes a 
red color! And salmon could hardly be ex¬ 
pected to meet with and recognize boiled 
prawns on their natural feeding-grounds. Just 
so! But does not “the bit o’ red” theory make 
