Blacker's Art of Fly Making Part 2

PROCESS OF MAKING THE GAUDY SALMON FLY.

(_See Plate._)

You commence by tying the hook and gut firmly together, and that it may be more easy and convenient to the reader to accomplish this process of making the Gaudy Salmon Fly, I will tell how it is done in my own favourite way.--Take the hook in the left hand and hold by the shank immediately opposite the barb, here fasten on a piece of fine tying silk, finer than you tied the hook and gut on with, tie on a piece of tinsel, and roll it over the hook three or four times to tip the fly; place the nail of the left thumb on it, and tie with one knot (see the tip on the first fly in the plate, just below the ostrich tag); take a middling size golden pheasant topping, and tie it on just below the ostrich tag with a piece of tinsel, about a finger length, to rib the body (see the tinsel); take a hackle to suit the size of the hook, draw it a little back from the point, that is the fibres (see the hackle ready to tie in at tail in the first fly); take a fibre of ostrich, tie it on, and give two or three rolls of it from you, and as you turn it over keep the soft pile of the feather towards the tail, as this will make the tag appear even, and give a running knot, the less knots the better at this point to prevent clumsiness; now take a piece of pig hair, and twist it round the tying silk (see the pig hair round the silk, and the hackle tied on just above it), roll the pig hair over the body, giving it a turn or two between the ostrich tag and the hackle, that when the hackle is struck it may appear from the centre of the fly to the shoulder; the pig hair is now on, roll the tinsel over it slopingly till you come within the eighth of an inch of the loop; take hold of the end of the hackle in the right hand, and roll it up on its edge, or partly on its back, in rotation with the tinsel, and tie it down with two knots, clip off the end of the hackle and tinsel.

If the fly is to be made with the hackle struck only round the shoulder (see hackle tied in at shoulder, on the second fly in this plate. I have not numbered the three flies on this plate, to distinguish it from the plate of AN EASY METHOD OF MAKING A SALMON FLY.) See pig hair body and tinsel rolled on; s.h.i.+ft your hand up the hook in the left, and hold by the middle, take the hackle in the right, and roll it from you closely round the shoulder, (see hackle tied in at shoulder), leaving at the same time enough of the hook bare at the end of the shank to tie on the wings, and to roll on the jay feather (see jay hackle ready), the hackle supposed to be rolled round the shoulder, cut off the tinsel and pig hair which you see on the piece of silk, leaving another piece attached in the same place to tie on the wings (see the piece of tinsel and pig hair left at the head ready to be cut off, and the silk hanging to tie on the wings--second fly).

The first fly, which we made above, is now no other in appearance than the third fly at the bottom of the plate, which shows hook, body, and tinsel. We now come to the most critical part of tying on the gaudy wings firmly, (see mixed gaudy wing ready to tie on). You take a neck-feather of the golden pheasant with a piece of silver pheasant tail, a piece of peac.o.c.k wing, a teal feather, and a piece of wood-duck, &c., lay them all evenly together, and break the fibres between your nails, when you tie them on the hook to make the whole small, as you may see done at the root of the wing in the plate; take another golden pheasant neck feather, and prepare it exactly like the last, that the wing may be the same at each side when tied on; you now take hold of the fly in the left, the fibres of the hackle remaining under your finger and thumb, cut away the bit of tinsel and hackle-stem first, take the wing in your right, and lay it on the best side next you, and hold it tight with the left finger and thumb nails; give two laps of the silk over it, press it down tightly with the thumb nail, and take another turn of the silk, place the third finger against it to keep it on, till you lay on the off side wing; take it up as you did the other, and tie it down at the small part of the end, on the off side, hold it tight between the left finger and thumb, pressing it at the same time well down with the thumb nail of the right, take two rolls of the silk firmly over it, hold on manfully with the left, and give it another nail or two with the right thumb, make a running knot, lay it down awhile to rest your fingers; clip off the roots left hanging or projecting at the head closely (be careful always to leave enough of the hook bare to receive the wings, or you cannot manage it easily), now take two or three turns more over the head to make it tighter and even, leaving a little bit of the point to stand out; you then take a strip of macaw, and tie it on each side, clip off the ends, take an ostrich harl and tie it on about the centre of the head, and roll it over from you two or three times, the downy part of the stem next the loop to keep it all the one way, and when up to the root of the wings, take the silk which hangs here lap it twice over, and give a running knot; clip off the silk and end of the harl, lay on a little varnish very lightly at the point, and where the silk has been just tied down, keep the varnish off the ostrich harl; you may take a little pig hair, and twist it round the silk, roll it over the head very sparingly, and finish at the root of the wings in the same manner, laying on a little varnish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The plate of Feathers]

I will here repeat the tying on of the gaudy wing, with two or three fibres of various sorts of feathers, &c., which may be a little more easy to accomplish than the foregoing to the young beginner.

When you have the tail, tinsel, and hackle put together on the hook, and the eighth of an inch of the shank left bare to receive the wings; wax the silk well that it may make the head firm, and proceed thus.--First strip off two fibres of the peac.o.c.k's wing feather, and place them with three or four fibres of brown mallard, and the same quant.i.ty of spotted turkey tail, add to it a piece of neck and tail feather of the golden pheasant, with a little guinea hen, teal, and red macaw feather, yellow, orange, and blue. Keep these all even together, and break them at the roots like the gaudy wing in the last plate, and divide them in equal parts; now having mixed both your wings alike, take up one wing in your right fore-finger and thumb nails and hold it tightly, take up your fly with the left hand, and with the right hand place the wing on at the off side, laying it under the fore-finger of the left hand, and with the right hand give two turns of the tying silk over it, at the same time holding on tight between the nails of the left hand, and press it down with the thumb nail of the right, which keeps the head firm; then in like manner take up the other wing and place it on the near side, keep the wings the same length, and to extend two eighths of an inch longer than the bend of the hook, having taken two laps over the near side wing, cut off the root ends at the head closely, holding tight with the left-hand nails, and press both wings down tightly with the right thumb nail; wax the silk well here, and lap it over the part where you cut off the ends evenly; bring the silk down on the gut and give three or four rolls of it just below the point of the shank to guard it from friction when throwing the fly; bring the silk up again close to the root of the wings, and tie on a fibre of blue and yellow macaw tail feather for horns, let them be the eighth of an inch longer than the wings, clip off the ends; take a jay feather and prepare it, tie it on at the off side of the head with the bare side next the belly of the fly, roll it with the right hand over the head, about three turns, and lap the silk over it while under the nail of the left; cut off the stem, lay on a blue kingfisher feather each side, tie on a black ostrich harl, give three or four rolls of it over the head, letting the stem be next to the root of the wings as you roll it, take it under the nail of the left thumb, and lap two turns of the silk over it close to the root of the wings, and with the finger and thumb press up the fibres of the ostrich towards the wings, to make it stand even in its proper place; cut off the silk, and lay on a little varnish at the point of the head, and your fly is completed.

As it is my intention to instruct the reader in every point necessary for his benefit, according to my own knowledge and experience, throughout the pages of this book, it affords me much pleasure to be enabled to do so, and to offer something to the fly-fisher worth having, there is scarcely a page he opens that he will not find something valuable to himself, if he is a real lover of the art. "There is a pleasure in angling that no one knows but the angler himself."

I will now show how the India-rubber Green Drake is made, with a c.o.c.k-tail, like the beautiful engraving in the plate, (see Green Drake).

The Grouse, and Golden Plover hackle may also be made in a similar manner, to suit fine evenings in the summer, without the tail.

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, s.h.i.+fting 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 peac.o.c.k'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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TO MAKE THE WINGED LARVA.]

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 woodc.o.c.k 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 woodc.o.c.k 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 peac.o.c.k 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 peac.o.c.k 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 rehea.r.s.es 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 c.o.c.k, 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 a.s.similation 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 princ.i.p.ally used to afford gentlemen rural amus.e.m.e.nt 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _To make the Trout-fly as taught in the_ CATHECHISM.]

_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.