Part 4

To compose the fly, take a piece of gold tinsel, and cut a long strip of light india-rubber very thin, hackle, wings, tail, and all laid down ready,--tie the gut on the top of the hook, to project about three-sixteenths of an inch below the bend, or tie the gut underneath in the usual way, and lay a piece of gut on the top somewhat thicker, to work the tail upon, (see the tail in the engraving,--look often at the flies to refresh the memory); take three hairs of the mane of a black horse, and tie them on the end of the piece of gut, about an inch in length, let the silk be fine and well waxed, then tie in the end of the gold tinsel, and the finest end of the piece of india-rubber at the tail, that the thick end may be towards the shoulder to make it taper; after the body is made very even with a little yellow floss silk, hold the fly by the shank in the left hand, with the nails in close contact with each other, and roll the tinsel closely up, shifting your hand; this fastened down with the tying silk, take hold of the india-rubber in the right, and the extreme end of the gut tail in your left nails; warm the rubber a little in the fingers to soften it, draw it out to its full extent, and roll it over the end of the gut, and at every roll keep the third finger of the left hand tight against it to prevent it starting, move the nails up the hook as you proceed with the rubber to the shoulder; give two laps of the tying silk over it, and a running knot. The body now formed, take a very light brown grouse hackle (see the grouse hackle prepared in the plate of Feathers,--the partridge and the plover hackles are prepared in the same way, and all feathers of this shape for the throat, you may either draw them back at the end, or cut them like the wren tail feather), and tie it on at the shoulder, roll it about three times over on its back, keeping the fibres down towards the left under the fingers, tie the stem with a running knot, and do not give too many laps of the tying silk at the head to make it bulky, for it occasions the wings to turn round on the hook, as then there is no foundation for them, but when they are tied hard on the hook, they sit firm--you can not wing it neatly otherwise; to prevent a vacancy at the shoulder, lay on a little yellow-green mohair to fill it up, and roll the hackle over it, you may now guard the gut with the silk before you tie on the wings, do not allow the body of the fly to come too close up to the head, or as I said before, you cannot tie on the wings properly. Now take the dyed mallard feather for the wings, strip two pieces off, and lay them together for one wing, and two pieces for the other wing in like manner; hold the body by the left close to the head, and lay on the off side wing first, hold it tight under the nails of the left, and take a turn or two of the silk tightly over it, take up the other wing and lay it on, catching it under the nails of the left, taking two turns more over it in the same way, and press it tight down with the nails of the right thumb, give another turn or two of the silk, press back the roots of the wings with the thumb nail of the right, cut them close off, roll the silk evenly over it, and give two knots, now take a peacock's harl, tie it in by the root end, and roll it over the head two or three times towards the wing, and tie it firmly here with two knots of the tying silk, cut off silk and harl, lay on a little varnish, and your fly is completed; press up the head to make it look even, cut off all superfluous fibres that may stand uneven, so that all will appear like the plate.

There is another excellent way of making a body:--thus, take a piece or length of very flat gut, and soak it well in hot water till it becomes soft, tie it in at the end of the tail as you did the india-rubber, form a body nicely tapered of straw, roll some white floss silk over it at intervals, roll the soft gut closely over it to the head and tie it fast; then put a small partridge hackle round the throat, and wing it the same as before. Before you lay on the straw, cut it taper to suit the size of hook you are using, gold-beater's skin rolled over flat gold tinsel is also good.

I will here teach the making of the beautiful WINGED LARVA, specimens of which are shown in the plate with the May Fly. There is nothing can exceed the beauty of these flies, and as artificial specimens for killing fish during easterly winds they are invaluable.

It was in a strong east wind which lasted some weeks, five or six years ago, that I had such great success with this sort of fly in the river Tweed; grilse, sea-trout, and river-trout took it greedily. The two engravings in the plate of these flies are very beautiful. It would be a general killer in heavy running rivers under trees, or in rapid streams.

TO MAKE THE WINGED LARVA.

Tie on the hook and gut as before (say a hook about No. 8) and form a brown body of mohair on it, wing the fly with a portion of hen pheasant tail feather and woodcock wing; having the yellow brown body formed on the hook, and the wings ready to tie on, take a piece of the shrivelled larva you will find attached to the ends of the lengths of salmon gut, choose those that are nice and taper, and at the fine end tie on two fibres of golden pheasant neck feather for tail, clip off the end of the gut, lay on a little varnish at the end of the tail to keep it from coming off; now tie on the larva close to the shoulder, cut off the end of the gut, lay on a little varnish there, take some mohair of the same colour as the body, and roll it over the throat to cover the tying, leaving at the same time enough of the hook to receive the wings, you then take a light brown grouse hackle, off the neck of the bird, and roll it twice round the shoulder for the legs, or a woodcock feather, to be found at the root of the wings, outside, the latter I think is best. Now tie the wings on a little longer than the bend of the hook, clip off the ends at the head, and form a head with a piece of peacock harl, of a bronze colour as usual, fasten with the silk, and cut off all the superfluities. It would be well to draw out a little of the mohair at the shoulder to hang over the larva body, and to flatten the end of the gut a little where you tie on the tail, which keeps it on. Tie the larva at the side, so as it may appear like a double body to the fish in the water. It may be made by tying on the wings first, and let them remain until the body, the larva, and the hackle, are all tied in their proper places, and then turn back the wings over the body with your thumb nail, and tie them firmly down with the silk, taking two laps over the roots, and finish with two knots on the end of the shank immediately above the head.

Do not neglect to tie in the larva tightly below the wings at the shoulder, to prevent it drawing out from the mohair body. You must hold on tight and press it well down with the nail of the right thumb, as you do the wings when tying them on last. It is best to look at the larvas engraved in the plate occasionally, to give you an idea how it is done. When the wings are turned up last, and a head formed of the root of them with the tying silk, you next roll on a piece of brown peacock harl at the root of the wings, a harl with long pile or fibres is best, as you can press it up with your fingers to hang over the root of the wings.

The great nicety in making this fly to look well is, in tying on the two fibres of the golden pheasant feathers at the tail with fine silk, and the tying on of the larva itself at the shoulder of the fly, and then covering the silk that appeared bare with a little mohair twisted round the tying silk, and then rolled over it; it is over this bit of mohair the hackle should be rolled, and secured with two knots.

The wing of the small larva in the plate is tied on last, and a most curious and killing looking fly it is; the other one does best in deep water, or for grilse or sea-trout in July and August, particularly in the latter month.

The Salmon Fly, No. 11, in the centre of the plate, with the larvas, is a capital specimen for the light streams north of the Tweed, and would kill well in that splendid river at low water in summer, particularly at the "Throughs," three miles above the town of Kelso.

The above fly I will describe hereafter, with the other engravings in the plates.

To proceed regularly with the various methods of Fly Making, before touching on another subject, will be much more convenient to the tyro as he proceeds, so I will finish this branch of an "Angler's Education" with a Catechism, which will be found instructive and very curious to the beginner. It is accompanied with a copper-plate engraving of six flies, showing the whole process to the eye, which cannot fail to give a lasting idea to the fly maker who will properly study it.

In this last process, the reader should lay out every thing necessary for making a single fly in a piece of folded paper, so that he can look at the various articles as he rehearses them over in the book,--this will keep them more strongly in his mind.

Have each article to suit the size of the hook exactly, that when the fly is completed, it will appear in strict proportion: for instance, the hackle should be chosen small to suit the legs of the trout fly, and the large flies to have hackles off the saddle of the cock, that are old and stiff, to withstand the motion of the water; and fine silk, both floss and tying for the bodies of the small flies, and every thing in unison, as you read in the book; handling every thing sparingly, delicately, and nicely in the fingers. There is a good deal of the "battle fought" by letting the nails grow to a pretty fair length so as to hold on grimly.

A CATECHISM OF FLY-MAKING,

BY WILLIAM BLACKER

_Question._--What do you mean by Fly-making?

_Answer._--I mean the artificial assimilation of those beautiful insects that appear on brooks and rivers during the summer season.

_Q._--What are these artificial flies used for in general?

_A._--They are principally used to afford gentlemen rural amusement and recreation, by their taking both trout and salmon with the rod, line, and fly.

_Q._--Name the different materials requisite for making the Artificial Fly.

_A._--The necessary materials for making the Artificial Fly are as follows:--various kinds of feathers, furs, mohair, pig hair, dyed hackles, silks, tinsel, &c., &c.

_Q._--When the tyro has all the materials prepared, and seated at the table, how does he commence to make the fly?

_A._--First, the hook is firmly tied on the gut, and one eighth of an inch of the end of the shank left bare to receive the wings (see plate, hook, gut, and tail, tied on).

_Q._--How are the wings tied on?

_A._--They may be tied on the reverse way first, at the extreme end of the shank, and after the tail, body, and legs are formed, turn up the wings, divide and tie them down, and form the head.

_Q._--Is there any other way of placing on the wings of a trout fly?

_A._--Yes, by forming the tail, body, and legs first, and tie on the wings last.

_Q._--Having the wings the reverse way, to appear in strict proportion over the fly when turned, what is the next part to be performed?

_A._--Next, I take hold of the shank opposite the barb in my left, and here tie on a short piece of tinsel for the tip, roll it over two or three times evenly, and secure it with a running knot, immediately above this tie on the tail.

_Q._--When the wings are tied on reversed, the tip and tail secured, how do you form the body?

_A._--I take hold of the hook in my left hand close to the tail, and with my right draw out a small quantity of mohair, twist it round the tying silk close to the hook, draw it gradually full under the fingers to taper it, I then roll it closely over the shank to the root of the wings and fasten it. Leave a vacancy to receive the hackle if rolled on at the shoulder.

_Q._--If there is not sufficient mohair twisted on the silk to form the whole body, what must be done?

_A._--When the mohair on the silk becomes short, I tie it down on the centre of the shank, and tie in the point of the hackle here (see the second and third flies in the plate of this process), and apply a little more stuff to fill the shoulder, leaving a little of the hook to receive the wings.

_Q._--Having tied the hackle on towards the shoulder of the fly, how do you strike it in its proper place?

_A._--I hold the hook in my left hand by the bend, and with the right take hold of the stem of the hackle and roll it round the shank on its back, and tie it down (the fly may be ribbed and hackled from the tail like the fourth fly in the plate).

_Q._--The hackle, body, tail, and tinsel now neatly tied, how do you tie on the wings?

_A._--I now hold the fly in my left hand by the body, drawing the fibres underneath my finger and thumb out of the way, lay on the wings double, catch them under the nails of the left and give two laps of the tying silk over them, press them down at this place with the right nail divide and let the fibres of the hackle spring up between them, cut off the roots, lap the silk closely over the head and fasten with two knots (see the cock tail at the bottom of this plate).

_Note._--The wings of this fly were tied on first, as seen, and turned up last; the fuller the fly is at the shoulder the more the wings will stand upright on the back, and it often occurs that when the wings of the fly lie flat on the back, and it happens to be an end fly on the casting line, which is usually under the surface of the water, that the fish takes it for a drowned fly eagerly, and the wings much longer than the bend of the hook, this is not unnatural, as the wings of numbers of the brown and olive flies seen on the water have their wings much longer than the body, and when not on the wing lie flat on their backs.

I will here give a more easy way of making a Trout fly.

_Q._--How do you commence to make the Fly in this way?

_A._--I tie on the wings first, turn them up, tie down the head, and finish the fly at the tail.

_Q._--When the wings are tied on first, and turned before you commence the body and legs, how do you proceed?

_A._--I take a small hackle to suit the size of the hook, strip off the flue, and tie it on by the root at the head, and a piece of tinsel to rib the body.

_Q._--Having tied on the hackle thus, what is the next thing to be done?

_A._--I draw out a little mohair, twist it tightly round the tying silk, roll it down to the tail and fasten it, and roll the tinsel over in like manner.

_Q._--The body and tinsel being formed, how is the hackle struck on?

_A._--I take hold of the hackle in my right hand with either my fingers or pliers, and roll it over the body to the tail, fasten and cut off the ends, tie in a tail and the fly is complete. This is the style of the fifth fly in the plate.

_Q._--When a fly is to be made in the above way without wings, called a hackle fly, how is it done?

_A._--Having previously tied, I take two hackles of equal size, lay them even together, and tie them on by the roots at the end of the shank, and then the piece of tinsel to rib it.

_Q._--How do you form the body and tinsel after tying on the hackles?

_A._--I twist a very small quantity of mohair round the silk and roll it to the tail, or a peacock's harl, and fasten it there, over this I roll the tinsel.

_Q._--As the hackles are a nice point to perform, how are they struck?

_A._--I take hold of the hackles with the pliers at the points, both to stand the one way, give two rolls round the shoulder to make it full, and proceed with them slantingly on their backs to the tail, let the pliers hang with them and roll the tying silk twice over them, cut off the superfluous fibres of the hackles, take two running knots, and lay on a little varnish to harden the tying, press down the hackles with the fingers to slope them towards the tail, and the fly is completed.

_Q._--When you wish to make a larger Salmon Fly, how do you undertake it?

_A._--I tie on the hook and gut firmly together, as in Plate I, ON SALMON HOOKS, take hold of it by the shank opposite the barb, roll on a piece of broad tinsel to tip it, tie on a topping for tail, with a black ostrich tag.

_Q._--Having gone thus far, how do you manage the pig hair body?

_A._--Having laid before me two or three colours of pig hair, I roll a piece of fine floss silk on first next the tail, I then twist a piece of pig hair on the silk, roll it up towards the head, shifting up a little and tie, take another piece of hair, and another, and do in like manner (see the pig hair body of No. 2, ON SALMON HOOKS).

_Q._--How is the hackle struck on over the body?

_A._-Having held the fly by the shank to form the body, I now turn it and hold it by the bend, the hackle and tinsel previously tied in, as in Plate II, ON SALMON HOOKS, I roll the tinsel up first and the hackle next in rotation with it; Plate V. will show the tinsel rolled over the floss silk body, and the hackle ready to roll on.

_Q._--Having rolled on the hackle, and turned a jay hackle over the shoulder, how do you proceed with the wing?

_A._--I take two golden pheasant neck feathers and tie them on tightly first, then sprig them at each side with various fibres of feathers (see the wing in the plate prepared).

_Q._--How do you cover the lump occasioned by the quantity of tying silk at the head?

_A._--I draw out a small quantity of pig hair, twist it on the tying silk, and roll it over two or three times towards the root of the wings tightly, give three knots, lay on a little varnish, cut off the silk, and the fly is finished.

_Note._--If you make a pike fly, use large double hooks and gymp, with broad tinsel, and make the body full with pig hair, large saddlecock hackles for legs, wing them with peacock moon feathers, and add two large blue beads over spangles for eyes, and green or red pig hair towards the head. Fasten on the beads with fine copper wire, rolling it over the head two or three times, and also three times through the eyes, and tie down the wire tightly with the silk; roll the pig hair round the silk and then over the head and between the beads, fasten it with three knots, and lay on the varnish.

These large artificial flies kill pike or jack best on windy days with rain; they will not rise at the fly on fine days, except there is a strong ripple on the water. You humour the fly on the surface as you would move a salmon one, using a strong rod, reel, and line. If he is a large fish, he will rush off with the fly when hooked; but, if a small one, lift him out when he makes a double quick shake on the top of the water. I would advise the fisher to strike a jack quickly, for he often throws the fly out of his mouth when he finds the deception.

THE TROUT FLIES FOR THE SEASON.

I will now give a description of those flies which will be found most killing, as they are imitations of the natural ones that appear in each month, so that the fly-fisher may practice with them to very great advantage.

The numbers of each correspond with the engravings in the plates of the catalogue of flies.

THE TROUT is a game and sportive fish, and affords much amusement to the fly-fishers, as well as being generally esteemed the best of our fresh-water fishes for the table. The spawning time of the trout is much the same as that of the salmon, about October and November, and their haunts very similar; they fix upon some gravelly bottom to deposit their spawn, in either river or lake, and are never good when big with roe. After they have spawned they become lean and wasted, and their beautiful spots disappear; in this state they retire to the deep and still parts of the river during the winter months. As soon as the weather becomes open in February, they begin to leave the deeps and approach the rapid streams, where they soon obtain vigour for the summer sport. They delight in sandy and rocky beds and pools, into which sharp and swift streams run, and under shady banks, behind large stones and in eddies; in streams where there are sedges and weeds in the spring of the year. In the summer months they get strange, and haunt the deepest parts of swift running streams; they are found also at the upper ends of mill-pools and weirs, under bridges, and in the return of streams where the water boils in deep places. At the decline of the year they resort to the tails of streams and deep water.

They are in season from February till the end of September.

These few suggestions may benefit the young angler by giving him an idea of knowing where to cast his flies for them.

FLIES FOR MARCH.

No. 1. THE MARCH BROWN.--The body is made of light brown mohair, mixed with a little fur of the hare's neck, and a little yellow mohair, ribbed with yellow silk; a small brown partridge hackle for legs (this feather is found on the back of the partridge), hen pheasant wing feather for the wings, and two fibres of the same bird's tail feather for the tail of the fly. No. 8 hook. This fly is well taken by the trout, and continues good till the end of April. The following flies appear before the March brown, but it being a great favorite, I have given it first.

No. 2. THE EARLY DARK DUN.--The body is made of water-rat's fur, mixed with a little red mohair, the red more towards the head, an iron-blue dun hackle for legs, and the wings of water-hen or water-rail wing. No. 9 hook.

There is another variety or two of this fly that kill well in February and March, which are as follows: A black red hackle, with the above wings and body; a mallard wing, and the above body; a peacock harl body, a soot-coloured dun hackle, and a tip of gold. No. 10 hook.

There is a small fly, which I term the "heath fly," which is an excellent one in this month, and is made thus: The body is made of the fine fur of the belly of the hedgehog, or rat back fur (common rat), mixed with red squirrel fur, and a little orange mohair, rolled on thin and taper; a small silver grey hackle for legs, and winged with the grey tail feather of the partridge. A grey mallard and red squirrel fur makes another good fly. No. 10 hook.

No. 3. THE LITTLE BLUE DUN.--The body is made of mole's fur, slightly mixed with bright yellow mohair, a light blue dun hackle for legs, and starling wings. No. 12 hook. This delicate little fly appears on cold days in March, and is well taken by the trout from ten till four in the evening, with the little red dun.

No. 4. THE ORANGE DUN.--The body is made of orange and hare's fur, a honey dun hackle for legs, and grey mallard wings. No. 10 hook. Good on windy days in this month and the next. There should be but little hackle used on small flies in the early season, as the fur is sufficient or nearly so.

No. 5. THE MARLOW BUZZ.--The body is made of peacock harl, a dun hackle over it from the tail, and two dark red ones round the shoulder, rib of silver. This fly does best where there are large trees growing over the river banks.

No. 6. THE BROWN HACKLE.--The body is made of yellow brown mohair, a little orange fox fur, and two short fibred brown-red hackles rolled from the tail over the body, and ribbed with gold wire for evening fishing. It will be found a good one for large trout in river or lake, winged with hen pheasant tail, and forked with two fibres of the same feather, hook No. 10 for the small fly, and No. 6 for the larger size.