A Description Of The Fifteen Salmon Flies Engraved In The Plates
These fifteen Salmon Flies may be considered by my readers as specimens
of real perfection, and the "dons" of the present time amongst the great
Salmon fishers. There is such a combination of colours in them
throughout, that they will be found most killing in the rivers of
Scotland and Ireland, if made on hooks of sizes to suit each, and their
proper seasons.
I have taken the greatest pains imaginable to
ake them in proportion,
and of the most choice materials, which will greatly amuse the amateur
in his leisure hours to imitate them, and if he goes by the models, and
their descriptions, he will find them, when completed, what may be
termed by a Salmon fisher, magnificent. Their life-like and alluring
appearance, when humoured attractively with the rod and line, will cause
them to be very deceptive to the Salmon, and they will rise out of the
water at them with such greediness (the fun of it is) as to mistake
them for living insects. I have seen them swim after the fly for some
distance, as quietly as possible, before making a rush at it, then seize
it, show their back fin, and then the points of their tail--the break of
the water they have made closes--you "rise your hand," and the hook is
"anchored."
No. 1. I shall name this THE SPIRIT FLY, in consequence of its
numerously-jointed body, its fanciful, florid, and delicate appearance.
Its colours will be found most enticing to the fish, and is a sister fly
to Ondine, in the "Book of the Salmon," by "Ephemera."
The wings are made of six toppings, with a broad strip of wood duck on
each side, a red Hymalaya crest feather at top, a cock of the rock
feather, blue kingfisher feather at each side, a black head, and feelers
of macaw. The body is made of joints of black, orange floss, and a tip
of gold tinsel at the tail, tail two small toppings, a tag of puce silk
and ostrich, (it must be tied with very fine silk that the body may not
be lumpy, but to show gradually taper from the tail to the head, and the
hackle to be stripped at one side to roll even), and at each joint a
scarlet hackle, with a tip of gold tinsel under each joint, to make it
lively looking. There is a purple hackle, or very dark blue, struck
round the shoulder. The size of the hook is No. 6 or 7. Salmon, B or BB.
No. 2. The wings are composed of golden pheasant tail feather, mixed
with the following: strips of bustard, scarlet macaw, wood-duck,
mallard, yellow macaw body feather, silver pheasant, and a topping over
all, extending a little longer than the other feathers; blue and yellow
macaw feelers. The wing, as above, should be laid out on a piece of
paper, ready to tie on after the body and legs are formed, the jay
rolled over the head in this fly, and the head tied on last, of black
ostrich. The tail is a topping, mixed with a strip of wood-duck feather,
tipped with silver twist, a tag of gold-colour floss, and black ostrich;
the body puce floss to the centre, and the remainder orange pig hair or
mohair, ribbed with broad silver tinsel, and a guinea-hen rump feather
rolled over the orange beneath the jay hackle. This is about as fine a
specimen of a Salmon fly as ever was thrown into the water, and will
kill Salmon and Grilse, made small, in every Salmon river in Great
Britain. The hook No. 6 or 9, Limerick.
The best Irish hooks are numbered from No. 1, largest Salmon size, to
No. 10, Sea-Trout size.
No. 3. This is another of the Spirit Flies that kill so well in the
rivers of Ireland and Scotland, at high water, particularly the Spey and
Tweed. The wings are made of the following mixtures of feathers, each
side of the wings to be alike: Brown mallard, bustard and wood-duck; a
topping, scarlet macaw, teal, golden pheasant neck feather, a strip of
yellow macaw, and feelers of blue and yellow tail; a head of black
ostrich; the tail to be a topping, mixed with green and red parrot tail;
the body is composed of joints, first a tip of silver, a tag of morone
floss, a tag of black, a joint of brown, green and brown-red hackle,
puce and red, green and yellow, blue and orange, with a tip of gold
tinsel at each joint, a very small red hackle, and two red toucan
feathers round the shoulder, and blue kingfisher's feather on each side
of the wings. The hook No. 6, and No. 10 for Grilse.
No. 4. A celebrated Claret Fly, of very killing qualities both in
Scotland and Ireland, and in the Thames as a trout fly. The wings are
composed of two wood-duck feathers wanting the white tips, and two
strips of the same kind of feather with white tips; the head is made of
peacock harl; the tail is two or three strips of hen pheasant tail, with
a short tuft of red orange macaw body feather or parrot, tipped with
silver, and gold ribbing over the body, which is formed of claret pig
hair, over which roll two richly dyed claret hackles, struck in fine
proportion from the tail up. The hook No. 6 or 10. It is a capital fly
in lakes for large trout, as a breeze or gentle gale only causes a
ripple, and a strong wind does not do so well in lakes with the fly, as
it makes waves, although good for a large size minnow.
No. 5. A brown fly, a general favorite among the "old ones," on every
salmon river in Ireland and Scotland, particularly the latter, and in
rivers a good way up from the sea, on a dark day, with a good breeze
blowing up the stream. The following fly, No. 6, may be used in a
similar manner. The wings are made of the golden pheasant tail that has
the long clouded bar in the feather, rather full, and two rather
broad strips of light brown white-tipped turkey tail feather at each
side; a good size peacock harl head, and feelers of scarlet macaw
feather; tipped at the tail with gold tinsel--the tail a small bright
topping, and a tag of gold-colour floss silk; the body is made of
cinnamon, or yellow-brown pig hair or mohair, ribbed with double silver
twist; over the body roll a real brown red cock's hackle, and round the
throttle roll on a bright red-brown small-spotted grouse hackle, or a
brown mottled feather of the hen Argus pheasant's neck or back. BB hook,
or a No. 8.
No. 6. A Silver Grey Fly, a great favorite on the lakes of Killarney for
Salmon and Grilse, and at Waterville, in the County of Kerry, for Sea
and White Trout, made small on a No. 10 hook, about the size of a No. 6
Trout hook of English make. The wings are made of golden pheasant tail
feather, mixed with mallard, red macaw, blue and yellow body feathers of
the macaw, guinea hen, and golden pheasant neck feathers, with feelers
of blue and yellow macaw, a black head; tipped at the tail with silver
and orange floss tag, the tail a topping mixed with red and blue macaw
feather, (those blues that are found under the wings of that bird which
are of a very light hue) and guinea hen: the body is made of the silver
dun monkey if it can be got, light dun fox or squirrel fur, or dyed blue
dun mohair mixed with yellow,--all these are good for a body, ribbed
with broad silver tinsel, and a hackle of a real dun cock that has a
yellowish motley shade throughout it, rolled up to the head, and round
the shoulder a bright orange dyed hackle, underneath which tie in a
little orange mohair. It may be varied with a claret hackle at the head,
or a fiery brown one. No. 9 hook. A small grilse or sea-trout hook, for
small rivers in either Scotland or Ireland, and also in the rivers of
Wales, where it is a native dun colour among the anglers. It will be
found a "don" to rise them.
No. 7. A large dun palmer with a double hook, which, will be observed,
is of a tortuous shape in the body, as it appears in the plate. The
shape may be obtained by tying the hooks back to back, the top one to be
tied about quarter way down the shank of the end one, and the gut tied
tightly on each, (twisted gut of course when you form a loop).
It will be found a "killer" in large pools surrounded with trees in
stormy weather, and in rapid streams running into or near the sea, where
they take it most likely for a shrimp, as it corresponds in color. The
legs are composed of about six hackles of a real blue dun old
cock-saddle feather, having a motley yellowish hue, and peacock harl
head, rather full; the body is made of orange pig hair and yellow mohair
mixed, the former drawn out amongst the fibres of the hackles, which
must be struck on two at a time, commencing at the tail, till it is all
built up to the head, where there may be three hackles to make it
fuller,--it would be as well to have a small swivel at the head, that it
might spin gently round when moved in the water. No. 9 hook, or small
grilse size for large trout. It may be varied with gold, old dun cock's
hackles, and red body.
No. 8 is a beautiful specimen of a gaudy fly. The wings, which are
finely mixed of rich feathers, are made of the following sorts:--orange,
yellow, and blue macaw body feathers, three strips of each; teal,
bustard, and golden pheasant neck feathers broken in strips; silver
pheasant tail, light brown golden pheasant tail feather, and a topping
over all a little longer; a peacock harl head, and blue and yellow
feelers. The body is formed in three joints, a tip of gold twist at the
tail, a tag of peacock harl, and a bright small topping for tail; first,
a joint of yellow floss, a joint of peacock, and two feathers of the
red-tipped feather of the crest of the cock of the rock tied short above
the harl and ribbed with gold; the next is a blue floss silk joint
ribbed with gold, a peacock harl rolled on close, and two feathers of
the crest of the cock of the rock tied close above it; and the third is
an orange floss silk joint, a peacock harl tag, and ribbed with gold,
two of the red-tipped feathers tied on close as above, and a blue jay
round the shoulder. No. 8 hook on B. This is a famous grilse fly.
No. 9 is another great beauty, and a capital grilse or small salmon fly
for any river under the sun. The wings are made of two jungle-cock
feathers, and two shorter feathers of the golden pheasant neck, the
white ends of the jungle-cock to show well beyond the golden pheasant
neck, two broad strips of wood-duck, one at each side, and a topping or
two extending longer than the other feathers for feelers, a black
ostrich head; a tip of gold at the tail, a tag of yellow-green silk, a
tag of black ostrich, and a bright topping for tail, above the ostrich a
blue tag, and the body made of claret floss silk, ribbed with gold
tinsel, and claret dyed hackle struck over the body, with a blue jay
feather at the shoulder. The hook B or BB.
No. 10. This is a famous high water fly for all salmon rivers,
particularly in Scotland, and is not unlike the once celebrated "Parson
Fly," the favourite killer in all rivers of the Reverend St. John's;
there is no salmon can resist its attractions in rapid pools in rivers
near the sea. The preceding fly, No. 9, will be found to kill better a
few miles higher up from the sea, as all plain flies do. If the No. 9 is
winged with brown mallard or brown turkey tail feather, it will be found
just the thing.
The wings are made of two golden pheasant neck feathers, with a broad
strip of peacock wing feather on each side, and a strip of scarlet macaw
tail feather, the latter to be a little longer than the other feathers,
a black ostrich head with a full brilliant blue jay feather round the
shoulder. The body is made thus:--a tip of silver twist, a yellow floss
silk tag, two small toppings for tail, the body is of golden yellow pig
hair or mohair, ribbed with silver twist, with two golden yellow dyed
hackles with a black streak up the centre, rolled from the tail to the
head. No. 9 hook, B, or BB.
No. 11 is a fly that will kill grilse or salmon in the light running
rivers of the North of Scotland, and in all rivers where the salmon and
its varieties haunt, and is made of different sizes. The wings are made
of a few fibres of each of the following feathers: black and white small
spotted bustard rump feather, teal, wood-duck, silver hen pheasant tail,
and the silver cock pheasant tail black and white spotted feathers, the
neck feather of the golden pheasant, and the red spear feather of the
same bird, and at each side two small feathers of the black and white
jungle cock, a black head, and topping. The body is made half yellow and
half purple pig hair or mohair, the latter colour next the head, over
which roll close up two black heron feathers off the crest; a tip of
gold, and a small topping for tail, and over the yellow or purple body
roll double gold twist. No. 7 hook, or BB.
The Sea-Trout Fly underneath No. 11 in the same plate, will be found a
killer either for sea-trout or grilse, in the rivers in Scotland, and
the South of Ireland. The wings are made of a dark brown grouse hackle
that grows on the rump of the bird, just above the tail, mixed with a
small quantity of light brown turkey tail, or kite tail, which is the
salmon tail glede of the north, and two feelers of blue and yellow
macaw; a black head; the body is made with a tip of silver twist at the
tail, and a tag of black ostrich; the tail is a mixture of golden
pheasant neck feather, and brown mallard, two or three fibres of each;
the body is blue floss silk, rather light, with an old black cock's
hackle rolled over it, ribbed with fine silver twist; round the shoulder
roll a claret or scarlet hackle. The hook No. 10, or C, double CC, or B,
for grilse. There may be three or four varieties of this fly made
thus:--body blue, with blue jay, same wings, with a little neck feather
of the golden pheasant; orange body, same coloured hackle, and same
wings, blue jay at head; a dun body, with fiery brown hackle at the
head; a claret body--a yellow body, and small grouse; blue body, and
guinea hen; and a yellow body, with guinea hen; a black body, black
hackle, and the same wings and tail; a black fly, with teal wings; a
brown body, brown hackle, and "glede" wings, two fibres of the same for
tail. All these are the choicest colours for sea-trout and grilse flies
in every salmon river in the kingdom.
No. 12. Is a large SPRING FLY used generally in the Shannon, and the
Tweed, when the rivers are very high and rapid. It will be found a
magnificent specimen of a gaudy salmon fly, and is the proper size for
March and April, when the fulness of the stream prevents the fish from
seeing smaller ones. This fly will be seen to perfection in the Plate.
With this, I will describe three or four others of the same size, of
different colours, which came into my possession from Castle Connell, on
the Banks of the Shannon.
The wings of No. 12 are made of the small spotted brown Argus tail
feather, golden pheasant tail, and the black and white peacock wing
feather; scarlet and blue macaw, and in the centre an orange macaw
feather whole, those that are tipped with blue and green--they are found
on the shoulders of the red macaw and down the back; a tuft of broken
neck feather of the golden pheasant at the head, and feelers of blue
and yellow macaw; a black head; a tip of gold at the tail, a tag of
blue, another of orange floss and black ostrich, a good sized topping in
the tail, and at its root a tuft of red spear feather of the golden
pheasant rump; there is about half an inch body at the tail end, made of
yellow mohair, and yellow hackle over it, ribbed with gold, the
remainder of the body is made of puce floss silk, with a dark
wine-purple hackle struck over it, ribbed with silver twist and flat
gold, and a yellow body feather of the macaw rolled round the shoulder.
The hook, No. 2 or 3, large Salmon size.