Blacker's Art of Fly Making Part 3

_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 quant.i.ty 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 c.o.c.k 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 quant.i.ty of mohair round the silk and roll it to the tail, or a peac.o.c.k'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, s.h.i.+fting 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 quant.i.ty of tying silk at the head?

_A._--I draw out a small quant.i.ty 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 saddlec.o.c.k hackles for legs, wing them with peac.o.c.k 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 amus.e.m.e.nt to the fly-fishers, as well as being generally esteemed the best of our fresh-water fishes for the table. The sp.a.w.ning 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 sp.a.w.n, in either river or lake, and are never good when big with roe.

After they have sp.a.w.ned 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate of 15 Trout-flies.]

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.