CHAPTER XXI

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TROUT FLIES

"To make several flies
For the several skies.
That shall kill in despite of all weathers."

Charles Cotton.

Weight of Flies.—"Flies do not soon get tired; ... they are light; the wind carries them. An ounce of flies was once weighed, and afterwards counted; and it was found to comprise no less than six thousand two hundred and sixty-eight."—Victor Hugo, The Toilers of the Sea.

The Dry-Fly.—"Upon the curling surface let it glide, with natural motion from thy hand supplied."—Unknown Author. The italics in the word surface are ours. The dry artificial fly must swim on the surface, must fly upstream, must have no companion fly, must keep dry by sailing in the air between actual casts, and must attract the fish by minutely mimicking the living fly both in the air and on (not in) the water.

Vegetable Flies.—Bearded seed of the wild oat and a silvery willow leaf have been used successfully as artificial flies for brook trout and black bass.

To Carry Flies.—Do not use your large fly-book when wading. Put a half dozen seasonable patterns in your hatband, and a dozen more in a little book that will not bulge your pocket.

Variety in Flies.—You can never carry too many trout flies on your trip. Fill your fly-book and stick them all over the crown of your hat. Trout do not like the same fly at all times any more than you are fond of feeding on one sort of meat.

Clumsy Flies.—Most trout flies are too large, and they frighten more trout than they attract.

A New Fly.—" ... an altogether original fly, unheard of, startling, will often do great execution in an overfished pool."—Henry van Dyke.

The Floating Fly.—"The floating fly seemed to have the effect of arousing the trout to action at once. During the week I estimate that there was an average of ten rises to the dry-fly to every one to the same fly wet."—Emlyn M. Gill.

Fishing the Dry-Fly.—"The dry-fly is clearly out of place on the wet-fly water as the wet-fly is on the dry-fly stream. After all, it is only in the style of deceiving and hooking fish that dry-fly and wet-fly Anglers ... assuming both to be good sportsmen ... can much differ. In nearly all other fly-fishing matters they must naturally be at one. It has already been said that the dry-fly is quite out of place in many trout streams. The dry-fly streams, though they have increased of late years, are still and ever must be in a decided minority. The dry-fly Angler is not, as a rule, a very early riser. He can do nothing without natural flies, and in my experience there are very few duns or other water-flies out till nine or even ten o'clock in the morning."—A. B. Dewar, The Book of the Dry-Fly.

American Dry-Flies.—"Whirling Dun, Wickham's Fancy, Pale Evening Dun, Jenny Spinner, (Hackle Fly), Willow Fly (Hackle Fly), Orange Fish Hawk (Hackle Fly), Olive Dun, Soldier Palmer (Hackle Fly). Silver Sedge, Red Spinner, White Miller, Coachman. Black Gnat."—Emlyn M. Gill, Practical Dry-Fly Fishing.

Brazilian Flies.—Brazilian flies, costing seven dollars a ton, are used to feed fishes in England.

Fresh Flies.—"When trout are taking the fly on the surface, and are not simply feeding on the larvÆ as they swim upward, a brand new fly is more likely to catch a fish than one which has been a great deal used. I always use May-flies dressed on eyed hooks, have a goodly supply, and when one gets so wet as to necessitate a considerable amount of labor in the drying of it, off it comes, and is stuck in my cap to dry at its leisure. Of course it is rather wasting to the cast—this frequent changing flies—and no little trouble to those whose fingers are all thumbs, and whose eyesight is becoming dim, but it is far less trouble to change the fly than to dry it when thoroughly soaked."—London Fishing Gazette.

Rocky Mountain Trout Flies.—First, Royal Coachman; second, Gray Hackle with yellow body. Then: Black Gnat, Ginger Quill, Cowdung, Blue Quill. Grizzly King, Shad Fly, and Stone Fly. Hooks, No. 6 to 14.

Early Season Flies.—Dark Stone, Codun, Alder. Bowman, Black May, Beauty, Ben Bent, Blue Bottle. Hare's Ear.

All-Season Flies.—Alder, Gray Palmer, Green Palmer, Ginger Palmer, March Brown, Reuben Wood. Professor, White Miller, Coachman, Royal Coachman. Dark Coachman, Codun, Scarlet Ibis, Brown Palmer. Red Palmer, Grizzly King, Queen of the Water, King of the Water, Brown Hen, Black Gnat. Early in the season use hooks No. 6 to 8; later, No. 8 to 12. Use the small patterns on streams, and the large patterns on lakes and rough waters; and, as I have repeatedly suggested, when the day is bright and where the water is clear, use the small flies of plain colors; on dark days and in the evening, use the large bright flies.

Dyed-Feather Flies.—"Some Anglers say no dyed feathers should be used in tying flies, that they fade to a damaging extent. We have always found dyed feathers practicable."—London Rod and Gun.

The Brown Hackle.—"Fasten red (crimson red) wool round a hook, and fit into the wool two feathers which grow under a cock's wattles."—Ælian, third century, A.D. "Out of the thousands of trout that I have caught, it is safe to say that over 70 per cent. were taken with the Brown Hackle."—C. T. Ramsey. Two hundred Anglers, representing all parts of the United States, contributed fly-fishing chapters to Favorite Flies. Mary Orvis Marbury's wonderful volume on artificial flies and fly-fishing, and 130 of them declared the Brown Hackle their favorite pattern. "I had supposed that the Red Hackle was an imitation of the small red caterpillar, but the veteran Nessmuk affirms that it resembles nothing below or above. It is his favorite bug, and that settles the question."—H. C. Wilcox, Favorite Flies.


                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

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