Second and fourth row, natural insects drawn from live specimens. First and third row, imitations tied by author 
TWELVE NEW TINY NATURE FLIES 
NATURAL IMITATIONS OF INSECTS CONSIDERED MOST USEFUL TO 
ANGLERS FOR THE CAPTURE OF TROUT EARLY IN THE SEASON 
D URING the several years’ work 
in collecting and making life pic¬ 
tures of insect food of trout in 
the northern continent for my 
book “Trout Stream Insects,” I made 
studies of several hundred species, care¬ 
fully selecting a number of those insects 
considered most useful to anglers in 
their capture of trout with artificial 
copies of them. But the number of in¬ 
sects in the book had to be limited be¬ 
cause of the classified system I chose to 
employ, so that a great many important 
though very abundant small insects were 
not included in the five monthly lists. 
After further study and practical ex¬ 
perience during the intervening eight 
years in revising and re-collecting the 
best small specimens I think anglers will 
find it invaluable if I now include twelve 
additional new species of very small 
imitations tied on No. 12 and No. 14 
hooks. 
This decision has been made after 
most careful consideration because the 
series of nature flies, as now tied, seem 
to require a number of the smaller flies 
inluded in the list. Many anglers from 
California and north Pacific coastal 
states are now using small flies and have 
requested this. My own practice in fly 
fishing our Eastern trout streams shows 
conclusively that a dozen flies of very 
small size will make the nature series 
more perfect, especially in very early 
and midsummer season. 
This last year I have been greatly im¬ 
pressed and very pleased after reading 
Mr. Skue’s “Minor Tactics” in that 
I have for years had precisely the same 
views concerning methods we should 
pursue on our own streams that he de- 
Page 178 
By LOUIS RHEAD 
scribes is best on British streams. I had 
refrained from reading that, and other 
admirable books, wishing to be free from 
other influence upon my own nature 
studies, observing at the same time the 
host of anglers go stark mad over dry- 
fly fishing, which I think will as rapidly 
decline into normal and right conditions, 
when as good if not better sport may be 
enjoyed under water as on the surface. 
To meet that situation the new pat¬ 
terns hereafter mentioned I have pur¬ 
posely tied wet with one or two excep¬ 
tions, and those will be tied wet as well 
as dry. In describing this supplementary 
list of new nature flies I think it best to 
include at least one each of the six 
“classes” of insects which will make the 
artificials more varied and I am sure will 
prove more effective killers. The 
monthly divisions are two for April, four 
for May, three for June and three for 
July, though most of them hatch out 
some weeks before and after the time 
mentioned. In naming them I have fol¬ 
lowed the system used in the book, that 
is, the name denotes some color or other 
feature of the live insect. 
No. 1.—May. Speckled olive; is a 
pretty little drake, rapid in flight, hatch¬ 
ing all through May into early June. 
No. 2.—June. Dark claret, a thick 
body drake, dull brown-grey wings, often 
alighting on surface in swarms. 
No. 3.—May and June. Tiny ruby. 
Beautifully colored small drake, like 
a miniature of the golden drake. Its 
curious body, however, is thicker at the 
middle. Specimens vary in size, some 
appear quite large. 
No. 4.—July. Little celt with green 
body, white tip on tail, grayish wings 
and legs. Very plentiful late afternoons. 
No. 5.—June. Silver sedge. A bright 
little fly, quite lively; very abundant just 
before dark. When the wings are closed 
the insect appears much darker as it 
floats than when in flight. 
No. 6.—April and May. Pale claret. 
The upper body is pale claret with wings 
and legs speckled in brown. The rises 
are thick, floating mostly in swarms dur¬ 
ing midday. Toward dark they get off 
the water in flight. 
No. 7.—July. Ruby tip is a small, 
wasp-like fly, abundant on elderberry 
blossoms. Very rapid in flight. 
No. 8.—July. Green spinner is a late, 
small, though plentiful, spinner. Ap¬ 
pears also in August. Light green body 
with brown-pink tip, pale yellow legs. 
No. 9.—April. Brown dipper. Very 
early lapwing dun. Toward beginning 
of May it becomes very abundant, fre¬ 
quently dipping on the surface. Brown¬ 
ish-green wings. Jet-black body and 
legs. Much like a miniature alder in its 
rapid flight. 
No. 10.—June. June orange. Small 
drake, orange tail banded on tip with 
pale green. Whisks well marked in 
spots. 
No. 11.—May. Dark olive. Dark 
greenish body with hairy shoulders, long 
black legs. 
No. 12.—May. Maple fly. Small two- 
wing fly with bright pink crossmarks on 
dark green body. Not common on the 
water but flies round about the maple 
leaves and blossoms. 
A NOTICEABLE feature of this sup- 
** plementary set is that I have tied 
almost half the artificial imitations with 
