To Make The Palmer Or Double-hackle Fly

You tie on the hook firmly as before, and prepare two hackles for the

fly, as you may see in the plate of Feathers, two hackles tied together

at the roots, which keeps them on their sides evenly while rolling them

on; you hold the hook by the shank in your left hand, tie in the

hackles, the inside downwards, that when tied on and finished, the

outside of the feathers appears to the eye (see the hackle tied in at

the po nts, and the body and tinsel rolled on, at the bottom of the

plates of Trout Flies for the season); tie in the tinsel to the body,

and the peacock's harl, or mohair, or floss silk, to form it, at the

same place--turn the hook in your fingers, and hold it by the bend; take

the harls in your right hand, and roll them up to the head, or mohair,

or your floss silk in the same way; take a turn of the tying silk

over, with a running knot, clip off the ends of the harl, (leave a

little of the end of the shank of the hook bare to finish on, or you

will not be enabled to roll the two hackles neatly up to this place).

Next, roll the tinsel over the harl, and tie, slope it as you go up;

then take hold of the hackles in your right hand, and roll them over the

body close beside the tinsel slopingly, taking care at the same time to

keep the third or middle finger of the hand the fly is held in tight

against them at each turn, and roll them closer as you go up to the

shoulder, pull them tight here, and if there are any fibres left on the

stem of the hackle that are superfluous, pull them off, still keeping

your finger against them, and holding hard the hook; now take a roll or

two of the tying silk over them and the knots, give the stem another

pull to tighten them, and clip it off, tie down the head neatly with two

running knots, and varnish it; press the fly between your fingers to

slant the hackles downwards; and if any of the fibres of the hackles

stand the wrong way cut them off, although, if they are rolled evenly

together on their sides or back, you will turn the fly out correct,--see

the beautiful Palmer in the plate, with the hook tied in on the back,

which is a perfect model,--these hooks are tied together on the same

piece of gut first, and then make the fly over them. It is difficult to

perform this job until you know how to make a palmer on a single hook.






The foregoing is my favorite way of making a palmer, but you must be

proficient before you can manage it well. I will here show how it can be

made in a very easy manner, when you are able to handle the materials,

and tie on nicely. When you have the hook and gut neatly tied on, take

two hackles, and tie them in at the end of the shank by the roots on

their back, tie in the peacock harl and tinsel to rib it at the same

place; holding your hook of course by the bend in the left hand, take

hold of the two hackles in your pliers by the points, and when the

tinsel and body is rolled on, turn the hackles over the body close with

the tinsel on their backs slopingly, till you reach the tail; here let

go the pliers, and they will hang with the ends of the hackles still in

them, till you take two turns of the silk over them, clip off the ends

of the hackles, and tie it neatly with two running knots, lay on a

little varnish; the fly will look rather rough in this method when

finished, but with a little pain you will soon accomplish it; press down

the fibres with your fingers, and cut away the superfluities. You should

have a palmer ready made before you always while making this fly, which

will facilitate you in your progress.



When you find it difficult to place on the hackles first while you are

making a fly, pull off one side of the fibres, and lay two evenly

together, and draw them back at the points where you tie them in, as the

hackle in the plate of Feathers, and roll them always slopingly over the

body to the shoulder, on their edge with the outside of them next the

head; and, according as you come up to the end of the shank, roll them

closer, which makes the fly appear full there, press them well down with

your fingers, (see the three-hackle, or Palmer Flies for Trout, 7, 8,

and 9). The hackles of these three flies are beautifully struck.