XVIII.—HOW TO MAKE A GOOD FLY.
FLY-FISHING is poetry; ordinary angling is prose. The latter looks to the catch; the former to skill shown in the capture. There is more sport in hooking and playing one single bass with a light pliant fly-rod, than in dragging in a dozen by mere muscular force. To cast a fly lightly to a chosen spot, to note instantly the swell indicative of a “rise,” to strike at once, but deliberately, to keep your rod bent, your line taut, and your fish in the water long enough to exhaust him, all require judgment, skill and self-control.
But after you have put up your rod for the season, you may still extract pleasure from mending your tackle, putting reel and rod in order, and last, but not least, in making a supply of artificial flies for future fishing.
FIG. 1.
The articles necessary for making flies are hooks, silk, white wax, silkworm-gut, tinsel-feather fibres—dubbing for the bodies of fur, wool, silk or feathers—hackles for legs, and larger feathers for wings.
FIG. 2.