January, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
31 
HOW TO MAKE THE ANGLER’S BEST FLIES 
BETTER LOOKING AND MORE DURABLE FLIES THAN CAN ORDINARILY BE PURCHASED 
CAN BE TIED BY THE AMATEUR WITH PATIENCE TO FOLLOW DIRECTIONS 
By GEORGE PARKER HOLDEN, M. D. 
A FTER the angler has attained to some 
considerable familiarity with fishing 
with the fly, by far the most en¬ 
thralling branch of his artful recreation, 
and has made his own rod, yet he will not 
long be entirely satisfied without an at¬ 
tempt at the construction of these dainty 
imitations of natural insects, however 
crude may be his first essay in this direc¬ 
tion. Superexcellence in the tying of arti¬ 
ficial flies comes only with manual prac¬ 
tice combined with a close study of stream 
insect life and of the habits of the fish 
that feed thereon. In fine, it is a develop¬ 
ment coincident with the ripening of ex¬ 
perience; and almost every expert tyer has 
his own jealously guarded kinks, or stunts, 
both with reference to technic and to sources 
and utilization of special materials. 
But it is possible that the reader may 
have less self-confidence than did that in¬ 
dividual who, in response to one who in¬ 
quired if he could play the violin, replied: 
“I don’t know; I never tried”; and so, lest 
he should become discouraged at the out¬ 
set, we hasten to add that it really is a 
simple matter for the tyro to learn to tie 
flies that will be much superior in every 
way to the cheaper stock output of the 
tackle-shops, superior even to most of the 
more expensive grades of the commercial 
article. They will be better looking, will 
last longer—of course barring those irre¬ 
trievably snagged or lost through break¬ 
age of leaders—and what is more to the 
point, they will catch more fish. 
We have no idea of attempting an ex¬ 
haustive treatment of this subject, which 
in itself would require a whole book, but 
we will give such comprehensive details as 
will enable anyone to make a fair start, 
from whence, by practice and observation, 
he may readily progress toward real ex¬ 
pertness. And do not forget that if you 
want to know how any particular artificial 
fly is put together, you can always dissect 
the specimen; in this way many experts 
have gained their first experience 
At the outset you must be prepared to 
find that any list of “standard” artificial 
flies will at once reveal an unavoidably 
chaotic condition of affairs; and, conse¬ 
quently, that the phrase “true to pattern” 
becomes a very uncertain designation. In 
the first place, many of the artificials are 
not even attempts at copies from nature, 
but are frankly empirical—“fancy'”—pat¬ 
terns ; in {he second place, insects consid¬ 
ered specifically as fish food have been 
very little and very incompletely investi¬ 
gated by entomologists, with the result 
that they are variously classified. In short, 
a scientifically absolute classification either 
of the naturals or artificials does not exist. 
This state of things naturally enough 
gives rise to all sorts of anomalies. For 
example, the angler will find the March 
Brown and the Brown Drake both listed in 
the artificial patterns, likewise the May¬ 
fly, Yellow May, and the Green Drake. 
Now, the March Brown is a brown drake, 
and the Yellow May and the Green Drake 
Necessary implements for the fly-tyer 
TT/" INTER is not the season of 
' ' the angler’s outdoor activities, 
but it is the opportune time for re¬ 
pairing of tackle and for tying dies. 
Doubtless many gf our readers have 
desired at one time or another to be 
able to indulge in this fascinating 
branch of the dsherman’s recreation, 
but have been discouraged about 
starting by its seeming difficulties. 
In the present series of articles, 
■which will be fully illustrated, Dr. 
Holden has handled the subject with 
a lucidity, coherence and comprehen¬ 
siveness that should lure any angler 
into the attempt of building his own 
artificials. And if any reader has 
any "pet points’’ on fly-tying which 
will prove of added practical inter¬ 
est, now is the time, while the series is 
running, to present them. [Editors.] 
The fly-tyer’s apparatus in position 
are both May-flies. Again, no less an 
authority than William C. Harris noted 
not so many years ago in a list of artifi¬ 
cials the Stone-, or Caddis-, fly. But the 
stone-fly is now classed under the Per- 
lidae, while we understand that the caddis 
(caddice) is the name of a sub-class of in¬ 
sects— the Trichoptera — whose larvae, 
called caddis worms, look not unlike minia¬ 
ture helgramites and emerge from cylin¬ 
drical cases that are open at the ends. The 
Cinnamon is a caddis-fly. It is useless to 
attempt to reconcile these irregularities and 
discrepancies; one must simply accept them. 
A fly that will not whip out easily is an 
expensive fly to buy, though generally 
cheaper in the end than those that do, and 
if in addition to durability it possesses the 
other cardinal features of seductiveness of 
form and pattern, then its cost mounts up 
accordingly. The aristocrats among flies 
are tied only by expert practical anglers, 
and, when purchasable, from two to three 
dollars and more a dozen is not an ex¬ 
orbitant price to pay for them. The “25- 
to-soc.-per” kind, as indeed many of the 
higher grades, are copied by girls, more 
or less faithfully, at the rate of one in 
about every five minutes, from samples 
made by someone who really possesses 
some knowledge of the subect. Of course 
there are all grades, from the most hap¬ 
hazardly - slapped - together “bunches of 
feathers,” up through some really good 
commercial specimens—generally made by 
members of some family that has been 
tying flies for successive generations—all 
the way .to tire delicate and highly intelli¬ 
gent handiwork that acceptably represents 
the pinnacle of the fly-tyer’s art. As we 
have already stated, the common defect of 
most store-flies is that they are too bulky. 
Body Materials. —Aside from the hook, 
which forms the foundation, or skeleton, 
upon which the artificial insect is built up, 
appropriate materials are required for imi¬ 
tating the body, wings, legs, and tails of 
the naturals. Peacock herl from the bronze 
green plumes of that bird, herl from dyed 
ostrich feathers, and various shades of 
chenille, silk floss, and crewel and other 
wools, also mohair, silver and gold tinsel 
and fine wire, and raffia—a tough grass¬ 
like material stocked by wholesale florists 
—are commonly used body materials. 
Raffia bodies ate quite durable, especially 
if varnished. Strips split from blades of 
grass or of corn have been utilized. Quill 
from the most delicate feathers is used to 
wind the very slender bodies of the quill- 
dies, or “quills,” which are steadily grow¬ 
ing in popularity, and this material has 
also been selected for extended bodies. 
Some anglers are very partial to these 
detached, or elongated, bodies which curve 
upward from the shank of the hook where 
it meets the bend, but I believe that in the 
experience of most who have used them 
they have been disappointing. A very suit¬ 
able material for making these, because of 
its color, translucency, softness and flexi- 
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 58) 
