No. 22.—The Sand Fly.—The body is made of the sandy coloured fur from the hare's pole, mixed with orange mohair, and a small ginger coloured cock's hackle for legs; the wings are made of a sandy coloured brown hen's wing, No. 10 hook. An excellent little fly on fine days with a little wind and occasional showers.
There is another little fly that will be found equally good, made thus:—the wings are made of red and grey partridge tail feathers, orange body, and black-red hackle rolled up from the tail to the head, it will kill well on dark days, ribbed with gold, No. 8 hook.
No. 23.—The White Moth.—The body is made of white mohair, which is lively ribbed with orange floss, a white cock's hackle rolled round the shoulder; the wings from a white feather of the swan that grows over the back. It may be varied with cream coloured mohair, very light ginger hackle, and a buff wing from a hen of that colour; and a browner one may be made from a matted brown hen's wing, or light brown grouse tail, or large hackle off the rump of the same bird, brown-red cock's hackle, the whole to be made full, of good coloured and stiff materials, that they may not absorb the water, and alight heavy when thrown on the surface.
No. 24. The Oak Fly.—The body is made of orange silk, and a little hare's ear fur under the shoulder, rib it with a furnace hackle from the centre of the body up (if the hackles are tied on at the tail they are very apt to get cut with the teeth of the fish in a very short time). The wings may be made from the mottled brown hen, or the woodcock wings, of a red tinge. No. 8 hook. This fly cannot be too highly valued for its killing qualities. It will be found useful for large trout of a windy day with a grey cloud over head, and not likely to rain. "Mr. Bowlker," in his "Art of Angling," mentions the oak fly in this manner: "The oak, ash, woodcock, cannon, or down-hill fly, comes on about the sixteenth of May, and continues on till about a week in June; it is to be found on the butts of trees, with its head always downwards, which gives it the name of the down-hill fly. It is bred in oak-apples, and is the best of all flies for bobbing at the bush in the natural way, and a good fly for the dab-line, when made artificially." The wings are made from a feather out of the wing of the partridge or woodcock, the body with a bittern's feather, and the head with a little of the brown part of hare's fur. The hook, No. 6. Some dub it with an orange, tawny, and black ground, and with blackish wool and gold twist; the wings off the brown part of a mallard's feather.
FLIES FOR JULY.
No. 25.—The Great Whirling Dun.—The body is made of water-rat's fur, mixed with yellow mohair, and ribbed with yellow silk; a reddish blue dun hackle for legs; grey mallard wings, or starling—try both. No. 8 hook. There are two or three varieties of this fly, which make their appearance in this month, and are very killing on fine, mild days, with occasional showers; their colours run from a dark to a light sky-blue.
"Mr. Bowlker," in his "Art of Angling," an authority which I like, as he was himself a fisherman, speaks thus of one of these beautiful flies: "It comes on about the end of May, and continues till the middle of July. It is a neat, curious, and beautiful fly; its wings are transparent, stand upright on its back, and are of a fine blue colour, its body is of a pale yellow, its tail forked, and the colour of its wings. It is a fly that the fishes take extremely well from seven o'clock in the evening till sun-set. The wings are made from the light blue feather of a hen; the body is made with pale yellow mohair, mixed with light blue fur, and ribbed with a fine cock's hackle, dyed yellow, the hook, No. 8." This is taken from "Bowlker's" original work.
No. 26. The Little Peacock Fly.—The body is made of bright brown peacock's harl, with a tip of gold at the tail, or gold colour floss silk; a red hackle for legs, and a starling wing. This little fly comes on about the middle of July, and continues till the end of August. It may be used to advantage on fine days, with the blue dun, and cinnamon brown. I have seen this latter fly on the river "Mole," in August, of a fine brown colour, and plump in the body, about the size of the Great Whirling Dun. The body was red brown, the legs an amber brown, the wings were a mottled light brown, and the tail of the same colour as the wings. I have seen the above fly some time after on the "Bann," in the north of Ireland, a river six times the size of the Mole, not half the size, in August. This circumstance of the difference in size, must be the nature of the soil through which the rivers flow; the "Bann" is a gravelly bed, full of large stones, with a very fall strong running stream; the "Mole" not so. It is my opinion that in the summer months there is more sport to be had with flies as small as can be made, than with the general run, except late in the evening, then use a large fly—a brown, or white moth, where a large fish shows himself.
No. 27. The Blue Blow.—The body is made of mole's fur mixed with yellow mohair, run very taper from the tail up; the wings are made of a tom-tit's tail feather, or water hen; the tail is two hairs of a mouse's whisker, or fibres of dark dun hackle; the body is picked out a little at the head to imitate legs; the fly altogether to be made very small and delicate, hook No. 13. These little flies may be seen on good size rivers in hundreds, in the summer on sultry days; where there is a stone projecting out of the water they gather round it, and with the motion are carried up and down on the side of the stone, where large trout lie, like ant bears, sucking them in by the dozen; the wing of the water-rail is capital to imitate that of the fly. There is another excellent killing fly that may be used with the above, made thus;—body, gold colour mohair; tip of gold; woodcock or wren hackle for legs; grey partridge tail for wrings; and two fibres of the same for tail; No. 10 hook. They are good where the river is low, and are excellent till the end of August, used with the little brown fly, and ash fox.