Superior Fishing / Or, the Striped Bass, Trout, and Black Bass of the Northern States

by Robert Barnwell Roosevelt

In tying in an entire plume reduce it to the proper size by pulling off the fibres, and if the stem is large pare it away and always flatten and work it with the nails; then tie it loosely till it is properly arranged, and finally, secure it with a number of turns. It will slip unless made unusually firm, which the smallness of the head will readily permit.

Where the tail is worsted, it may be made of several thicknesses, left longer than necessary, and pared down and picked out after the fly is finished. As it is essential that in making a head, the ridge of the stem of the herl should be above, and as it is often obstinate in its refusal to take that position, it may be wound either way,—that is, from you or towards you.

Care should be taken with simple wings that each is in the same relative position to the body, and that the fibres are not separated; with this object not only must the thread be reversed as above directed, but cohesive feathers should be selected. Some are exceedingly difficult to tie, while others, such as the pheasant and turkey, retain their place readily. They should be selected from feathers taken from the opposite sides of the bird; and if two or more different kinds are to be used, the first wing should be completed before the other is commenced, and before the thread is reversed.

In rolling an ordinary feather in place of a hackle, the same course may be taken as with the latter, but the better way where it is large enough is to strip off the fibres of one side, and then pare away the stem with a sharp knife. This requires care lest the knife slip and cut your hopes in twain. The same may be done with a simple hackle where great neatness is required, except that the stem does not need paring.

The tinsel may be double, tied in on opposite sides of the hook and wound contrary ways, but the effect is hardly better than a simple twist. In the latter avoid too many coils; they should not exceed four on hooks numbered not larger than one and a half.

Two hackles, which, if the colors are well contrasted, produce a fine effect, are usually rolled together, but may be wound one after the other if care is taken to pick out the fibres. They are tied in at one time and handled as though they composed but one.

A trout-fly may be made in the manner heretofore directed for salmon-flies, omitting as much as you please, or the wings may be laid together back to back or face to face, held in that position in the left hand, and applied to the hook after the fibres have been pinched with the nails at the proper place. Being secured in that way they resemble the wings of the ephemeræ closely; whereas to make one of the phryganidæ a few fibres of one side may be stripped off and tied on alone, lying close down upon the hook. Remember the ephemeridæ have whisks, the phryganidæ have none; the wings of the former stand up, of the latter lie down. Coarse fibres of hackle, or golden pheasant breast and back, are usually employed for whisks; and two strands of floss carefully waxed with a small edge of the wax, will make a tying silk as strong and large as should be used for a small fly. If well waxed, the finer the silk the firmer it holds; if not waxed no silk whatever will hold.

Another way of tying a trout-fly, by which more life is supposed to be given to it, is by commencing to fasten the gut at the bend and finishing at the head, holding the hook reversed; then change the hook to its proper position, and reversing the thread, lay on the wings, which are composed of two strips of feather folded, so that they shall point up along the gut; secure them firmly and cut off the butts close, divide them with the point of the picker and pass the thread through the opening each way several times, and if necessary above them both, but not on the root of the wings, till they stand up, then pushing them into their original position tie in below them by the larger end a hackle and a piece of round tinsel, and spinning a little dubbing on the silk, wind it toward the bend; hold the thread with the catch, and with the pliers wind the tinsel and afterwards the hackle, and fasten both at the bend; and finish off with two half-hitches. The silk composing the material in which the round tinsel is wound may be left for a tail, the coating being pulled off; or the tip of the hackle may be so left, or proper whisks may be introduced. The wings being drawn into their appropriate place will remain there, and offering resistance to the water are supposed by some to imitate motion. Those tied in this manner are not handsome, but are great favorites with certain fishermen for their assumed killing qualities, and are considered ruined if the silk covers the roots of the wings, as is done by most Irish flytiers.

Flies may also be finished at the shoulder under the wing; a course that seems to offer no advantages and to combine most disadvantages. Or the body may be tied, beginning at the shoulder and finishing at the bend, as last described, omitting the wings and leaving a place for them till the last; a new piece of thread is then applied, and the wings being tied in their natural position, the second finish is made at the head.

To prepare two single strands of floss as tying silk, hold one end between your teeth, twist the silk and rub it lightly with a small edge of wax. If the weather is cold the wax may require thumbing before it can be used or will stick to the silk. There will be found considerable difference in the strength of strands of floss according to the color, and in very small flies this may be suited to the insect intended to be imitated, and the necessity of any other body avoided.