THE FLIES FIT FOR EVERY MONTH. 99 CHAPTER V. A MONTHLY LIST OF FLIES FOR THE SEASON. For February and March. I HAVE not in this second edition inserted so many flies as in the first one. I have omitted several occasional killers, and substituted better ones. Having convinced myself, by repeated observation and examination, of the sound judgment, correct taste, and admirable practical powers in all that relates to fly-making, of Mr. W. Blacker, fishing-tackle maker, of 54. Dean Street, Soho, London, I have fully availed myself of his assistance in framing the following list of flies. Those marked (B) are described after his patterns. I have numbered each fly for the convenience of purchasers and fly-makers. I have every reason to flatter myself that the list as it now stands, amended and purified, will be found the most useful one ever laid before the angling community. The flies described in it, if properly dressed, will kill trout and grayling universally. No. 1. (B) Early dark dun.- Body, water rat's, or mole's fur; wings, an old cock starling's wing-feather; legs, dark dun hackle; tail, two fibres of a dark grizzled hackle. Hook, No. 9. 100 FLIES FOR FEBRUARY AND MARCH. No. 2. Olive fly. -Body of dark olive mohair; wings, a starling's wing-feather, to stand upright; tail, two whisks of a mottled mallard's feather; to be tipped with a lap of silver tinsel. This fly may be advantageously varied by mixing with the mohair a little yellow hare's fur, and tying on with yellow silk. Hook, as before. No. 3. The red fly.-Body of the dark red part of squirrel's fur, mixed with an equal quantity of claret-coloured mohair, showing most claret colour at the tail of the fly; to be spun on, and warped with brown silk. Wings, from a gingerdun covert feather of the mallard's wing; legs, a claret-coloured stained hackle. Hook, No. 9 and 10. No. 4. (B) The dark hare's ear.-Body, dark fur of the hare's ear; wings, woodcock's wingfeather, the redder the better; legs, the fur picked out at the shoulder; tail, two fibres of the brown mottled mallard feather; small gold tip. Hook, No. 10 and 11. No. 5. The hare's ear and yellow. - Body, dark hare's ear fur, and yellow mohair mixed; wings, starling's wing-feather. To be made taper in the body; fur picked out at the shoulder for legs. Hook, No. 10. Good in March and April. A general fly. No. 6. (B) The partridge hackle. — Body, light and dark hare's ear fur, mixed with yellow FLIES FOR FEBRUARY AND MARCH. 101 mohair, and ribbed with yellow silk; wings and legs, the brown mottled back-feather of the partridge. Hook, No. 10 and 11. An excellent fly. No. 7. The red spinner. -Body, brown silk, ribbed with fine gold twist; tail, two fibres of a red cock's hackle; wings, some transparent light brown feather; legs, red cock's hackle. Blacker's way of tying this fly.- Body, scarlet mohair; wings, brown mallard; legs, brown red hackle; tail, two fibres of a blood red hackle; to be ribbed with fine gold wire. Hook, No. 10 and 11. This fly dressed on a No. 6 or 7. hook, will be found good for pools and lakes on windy days throughout the spring—will be taken by large trout, and is, moreover, an excellent evening fly. No. 8. The furnace-fly.—Body, orange-coloured silk; wings, a fieldfare's feather; legs, a cock's furnace-hackle. A good general fly. The feather called the furnace-hackle is rather a rare one. Its outside fibres are a beautiful dark red ; that portion of them next to the stem being black. It is got from a cock's neck. No. 9. Hofland's fancy. -Body, reddish dark brown silk; wings, woodcock's wing; legs, red hackle; tail, two strands of a red hackle. Hook, No. 10. This is a good general fly for trout and dace, particularly in the rivers near London. No. 10. (B) The Maltby.-Body, cinnamon 102 ARTIFICIAL FLIES FOR MARCH. brown mohair; wings, woodcock's wing-feather; legs, small black red hackle; tail, two fibres of the brown mallard's feather; gold tip. Hook, No. 12. A favourite fly of Mr. Maltby's, the magistrate of Marlborough Street police court, called after him by his friends, who with it were invariably successful. No. 11. (B) The red dun.—Body, water rat's fur; wings, water rail's or moor hen's wing-feather; legs, dark red hackle; and tail, two fibres of the same. Hook, No. 11 and 12. No. 12. (B) The cuckoo dun.-Body, lightest part of water rat's fur, mixed with yellow mohair; wings, hen pheasant's wing-feather; legs, a dun cock's hackle, with dark bars like a cuckoo's back-feather; tail, two fibres of a grizzled hackle. Hook, No. 10. No. 13. The early dark bodied willow fly.Body, dark hare's fur mixed with claret mohair; wings, male starling's wing-feather; legs, reddish dun hackle; tail, two fibres of the same. Hook, No. 9 and 10. No. 14. The March-brown, or dun-drake. This is, perhaps, the best fly that can be used from the middle of March to the middle of April, and sometimes up to May. It is a large, showy fly, and almost as great a favourite in March as the May-fly in May. It has various names, viz. the cob-fly, brown caughlan, and turkey-fly, and THE FAMOUS MARCH-BROWN. 103 kills every where. In a work I edited formerly, I find the following note: "On the 23d of March, 1836, we killed with this fly, from one and the same standing on the Dove, sixteen trout and one grayling. We fished with two flies of this sort on our casting-line at the same time, and we caught three times successively two fish at one cast. We should have caught many more, had it not been for an accident that occurred to our tackle; for, before we could repair the damage caused by it, the rising time of the fish was over. From the middle of March to the middle of April it is decidedly the best and most killing fly that can be fished with in the trout streams of the midland counties. We recommend the angler to fish with two flies of this sort on his casting-line at the same time, one ribbed with gold twist, and the other without. The best time for fishing with this fly is between the hours of eleven and three o'clock, especially if the water is curled by a smart breeze." Dress this famous fly as follows:- Body, orange-coloured silk, or deep straw-colour, over which wind some fox-coloured fur taken from a hare's poll; legs, a honey-dun hackle; wings, to stand erect, of the top of the light or inner fibres of the feather of the hen pheasant's wing; tail, two fibres of the same feather. Rib with gold twist for your tail-fly, and let your dropper be |