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No. III.

The hook must be No. 1; the wings, the blue feather of a Hern, intermixed with the spotted reddish part of that of a Mallard; for the body, lead-coloured mohair, small gold twist, a large white hackle, dyed a deepish blue; a bit of the same feather as the wings for the tail; the head the same colour as the body; and the silk a lead colour.

To make this fly, proceed to whip in the point of the hackle a little before it is opposite to the hook's point, and go on a few laps; then taking the twist, and two strips of each feather the same as the wings, whip in the ends of the twist and feathers together, letting the latter be topmost, with the points downwards, and about a quarter of an inch long, cut away the other end of the feather; then twist on the mohair thin, work it up neat, and, having fastened it as before directed, take the twist, make one lap with it close below the feather for the tail (that it may stand together in an oblique form, and the points even); then one above, rib it neatly up, and fasten that; next work the hackle between each lap of the twist, and go on as with the other two until finished.

These three flies are sufficient to begin the Season with, though, indeed, they will kill fish at all times; but as the Spring and warm weather advances, they must be dressed more gaudy, and in the height of Summer, particularly if the water be fine, must be adorned with the most glittering plumage (gold, silver, and silks) that can be procured: as the summer declines, reduce the gaudiness of the flies gradually until these three are returned to again, which continue during the residue of the Salmon fishing.

The Salmon hooks for the summer fishing should be about No. 3, and strong made; if the shanks are too long, they must be shortened, according to the length and size of the fly intended to be made; the feathers must be golden and other Pheasant's, Parrot's, Peacock's, and, in short, of all other birds that are fit for the purpose, either foreign or domestic, and others dyed, including hackles of various colours, as well as the mohair and other stuff for the body of different gaudy shades. To render these flies more light in clear

water, let the body be made quite thin, of silk similar in colour; a bit of a shewy feather at the tail, with narrow gold or silver plaiting, according as it matches, instead of twist; and the hackle for legs, the blue spotted feather from a Jay's wing (the other part of it being stript away,) worked up only from about half way below the wings, but pretty thick under them. This Hackle in particular is remarked, because it is very excellent; but hackles must always be suited to the Shades of other materials. Further observe, that before beginning the head of the fly, two gaudy strips of feather should be laid on each side the shoulders, to stand something longer than the other feathers, whip them there, then finish the head; and the fly, when thus placed in proper order, will appear very beautiful. For the better convenience of making these large flies, a very small vice should be used for the purpose of holding the Hook, that both Hands may be at liberty to put in the materials, by which the flies will be more neatly, as well as more perfectly, dressed.

The same sort of flies, only smaller (the hooks being No. 4 or 5), are used for Salmon-Trout, and other fish of the Salmon kind; but they will often take the common Trout flies.

In fly-fishing for Salmon, there is this difference from taking Trout with the fly, that the fly must be allowed to move with the Stream, with a gradual motion of the hand to keep it upon the Surface, and the angler must strike the moment the fish rises, for the Salmon will not take the fly under water, but when they take, they break the water fairly: in a very rapid River or deep Lough, the hooks ought to be thick wired, otherwise the violence of the current will prevent the flies keeping any even motion, and thereby the fish will fail in seizing it when he rises; and in a deep Lough, the water which the Salmon forces before him when he rises will throw it on one side, and by that means the fish will also miss the fly in moderate streams, and in waters of a middling depth, the small wired hooks are best.

A further list of Salmon flies another Gentleman has given, and also recommended that the two yards of gut or grass links, which form the foot-length, should be three-fold; and when the latter is used, the greatest care should be taken that all the parts of each

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link are of equal length, and be regularly twisted*, or they will not sustain the struggles of a large fish; and that a swivel should be placed between the line and grass or gut, to prevent either from twisting; remarking, that when a Salmon is hooked, the efforts he makes to disengage himself, even when half tired, are more dangerous to the tackle than when he is first entangled. In this Gentleman's opinion, it is a great improvement to make these large flies with four wings, instead of two; not meaning the quantity of feather to be increased, but that it will be better divided, it being a fault too prevalent in Trout flies, their being overloaded with Feather.

The Season varying in different rivers, and the Salmon being so unsteady a fish in his feeding, the dating the Time of using each fly with precision is almost impossible; those which follow are arranged as they make their appearance, noting that the brown fly appears in April, and affords the most sport until September, when the grey mallard succeeds as the best fly for the remainder of the Season. The hooks from No. 1 to 3, according to season, state of water, and weight of fish.

The Brown Fly.

Its wings made with the long gold-colour feather near the cock pheasant's tail; the body of the fur of a Hare's neck, mixed with one-third of its quantity of the fine hair of a brown Cow. In bright weather gold twist is often successfully added, over which wrap a red Cock's hackle.

The Blue Fly.

Wings made of the shaded feather of the hen pheasant's tail; body of peacock's herle, with a pale red hackle over it.

For this purpose choose three round and free from flaws, and tying the root ends together, let them soak in cold water some hours; they will then be soft, in working will bed well together, and when care has been observed in not twisting them too hard, will appear regular and beautiful: there must be double knots in the loose ends to hang them on the twisting engine. The Angler ought to have several of these links ready twisted for various sized hooks, and to repair accidents.

The King-Fisher.

Wings of the feather of a Heron's tail, or that of a blue Turkey; body of the greenest part of the peacock's herle (that from about the eye of the feather is best), over which wrap a Heron's crest feather, or a black cock's hackle.

The Krime Dun.

Light Heron's feather for wings, body of hedge-hog's fur, with a light dun hackle over it.

The Great Palmer.

Wings made with the cock Pheasant's tail feather; the body of peacock's herle; over it a red hackle, which is black at the roots. This fly is often varied with great effect, by gold and silver twist.

The Golden Pheasant.

Wings, cock pheasant's tail feather; body of orange-coloured silk, ribbed with peacock's herle, and over it a ginger hackle.

The Grey Mallard.

Wings made of the grey feather of a Mallard; the body, which is very slender, of equal quantities of white rabbit and hedgehog's fur, well mixed, and light grizzle cock's hackle over it.

In trolling for Salmon with Minnow or Gravling, the foot-length or links must be about three yards, with a swivel or two, as well to help the bait's playing freely, as to prevent the line from twisting and breaking; a large shot or two, about a foot from the bait, will keep it under water when played, and which may either be added to or diminished, accord

ing to the strength of the current, (for this kind of Angling is chiefly in the streams, and is best when the water is clearing off after a fresh, or when upon the rise, before it becomes too thick.) The rod must have a stiffer top than for fly-fishing; the hook large, and long in the shank, with a very small one fixed above, at nearly the distance of the length of the fish baited with; the bait is to be drawn upon the hook like a worm, by putting it into the mouth, and bending it round the curve of the hook until it comes out a little above the tail, so as to keep the tail a trifle bent; the small hook (which should. be made blunt at the point) must then be put through the lips of the fish, to prevent its slipping into the bend of the large one. Some use a leaded, and others a snap-hook; but the above method is preferable. When thus prepared, the line should be let out from the reel, about the length of the rod; the bait thrown across the stream, and the line drawn with a pretty brisk motion up it, which causes the bait to spin well, and entices the large fish to take it. Some Anglers strike Salmon as they seize the bait; but it is the surest way to let them go down with it for a time: those who use themselves to strike immediately, should be careful, when a Salmon runs at the bait, not to snatch it away through surprise before he takes it, as is often done even by tolerable Anglers.

In fishing for Salmon with lob-worms, the trollingtackle is to be used, and two of these worms well scoured, put on the hooks; the first should be drawn quite above the top of the shank of the large hook,

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