Blacker's Art of Fly Making Part 6

This excellent salmon is a very handsome fish, the head is small, the body rather long and covered with bright scales, the back is of a bluish shade, the other parts white, and marked with irregular dark brown spots on the head, the covers of the gills, down each side from the lateral lines to near the edge of the back, very few are to be seen below the lines which run from head to tail; the tail is forked.

He takes great delight in pursuing small fish and fry, and in playing and jumping on the top of the water, at insects no doubt, and for his own sport.

It has been often said that there was never any thing found in the salmon's stomach such as edibles, but it has been recently discovered that they prey upon herrings, sprats, fry, and other dainties in their native element; and as these fish are very nutritious and fat in themselves, no doubt the nourishing channel in them receives the substance of the food very quickly, as it appears to be digested so rapidly in their stomachs. He leaves the sea for the fresh water rivers about January and February, and continues to run up till September and October, their sp.a.w.ning time, and some sp.a.w.n after this time; they are often big with roe in December and January, in the end of August or the beginning of September; when they are in roe regularly, they cannot be in proper season; they get soft, their beautiful color and spots vanish, and they do not appear like the same fish. They travel up rivers as far as they can possibly get, into lakes and their feeders, and tributaries of large rivers, where they take delight in the broad gravelly fords, and strong deep running currents, which they like to be as clear as crystal, to effect which they will leap over weirs, waterfalls, "cuts,"

"cruives," and "traps," when there is a flood rushing over them, to the great delight of the fly fisher, who loves to see them run and escape these obstructions.

The male fish is supplied by nature with a hard gristly beak on the end of the under jaw, which fits into a socket in the upper jaw to a nicety; with this the Salmon go to work with their heads up stream, rising their tails sometimes nearly perpendicular, and root up the sand and gravel in heaps, leaving a hollow between, wherein the female deposits the eggs; the male fish still performing his part, chasing away the large trout that are ready to root it up (the sp.a.w.n), he covers it over substantially against the forthcoming winter's floods and storms. By this time he becomes wearied, spent, and sickly, and then turns himself round and makes head for the sea, where, if once happily arrived, he soon makes up for the debility in his blue, his fresh, and ever free element. The refreshing and purging nature of the salt water soon makes him once more strong and healthy, he may be seen leaping and playing in the sea near the river's mouth on his recovery. I have been told by fishermen that they proceed in shoals to the ice fields in the North Seas, and return to the rivers and estuaries in the spring and summer as they departed, in large shoals; they discover themselves in the bays by jumping out of the water as they near the river.

The Salmon haunts the deepest, strongest, and most rapid rivers, and is rarely to be seen in those wherein there is much traffic, or that are sullen or muddy. They prefer the upper parts of rough streams that run into large pools, and the tails of these pools, behind large stones, in the middle and at sides of waterfalls in the eddies, these are the parts to throw for them, but the fisherman on the water will show the angler all the best places. The best months to angle for them are from March till the middle of August, after September they are out of season. They will take the fly best from six or seven o'clock in the morning till nine, and from three in the afternoon till dark, with a good wind blowing up stream. I have hooked them on the very top of a precipice, after surmounting the leap, where they lie to rest in the first deep pool they come to; they generally run down over the rocks or falls of water to the pool beneath, when they often get killed by the rapid descent.

THE SALMON FRY.

These beautiful little fish, the production of the sp.a.w.n of the salmon, make their appearance in March and April, and if a flood happens to rise or swell the rivers about the end of the latter month, they are taken down in great numbers, till at last they enter the brackish water, where they grow in a short time as large as white trout. The salt water adds much to their growth. In the following spring and summer they run up the rivers in great quant.i.ties if they are allowed, and return to the sea again before winter. On their second return up the rivers they will be grown very large, and are then called "Grilse," or "Peals," &c.

There is a SALMON TROUT of the same species, which is rounder in proportion to the Salmon, of a reddish hue when in season; it has small fine scales, beautifully intermixed with rich red and black spots on both sides of the lateral lines, from head to tail, and its handsome head is spotted over, as also the covers of the gills; the tail is shorter, and not so much forked as the salmon, and the fins are very strong. The flesh is most delicious, and some prefer it to salmon. They may be seen in the Fishmongers' shops from May till the end of August.

Another species is the Sewen of Wales, the White Trout of Ireland and England, and the Whiting of Scotland; they are very bright in colour, and run about the size of Mackerel; they haunt the roughest, strong streams, and gravelly bottoms. When they are hooked on the fly they will spring repeatedly out of the water, and afford pleasant sport for the angler. They take small gaudy flies like the Salmon Trout, and when the water is low, dun flies, black hackle flies with silver ribs, and grouse hackles of a light brown colour and yellow bodies. The hooks about Nos.

6 and 8.

Another species is the Bull-Trout, which has a short thick head, and a brownish body, covered with spots of a brown colour, and are found in all rivers having communication with the sea, and their tributaries, if there are no obstructions to prevent their running up. They are found running up the rivers in June and July, and in these months and August, are in good season. They are rather a dry fish.

The PAR or LAST-SPRING are most plentiful in salmon rivers from May till the end of August, and are very much like the salmon fry, only for the dark bars across them, and towards the end of the season they are variously marked. There is no little fish so plump and lively when taken with the fly, except the Salmon Fry. As the Sea-Trout are known to grow to the weight of sixteen and twenty pounds in large rivers, such as the Tweed, the Shannon, and the Bann, the Par may be the fry of these fish, which run up the rivers in the spring and summer. These Sea-Trout differ much in shape and colour to the real Salmon, and are what are termed Salmon in the London markets.--This I heard from a fisherman at the mouth of the Tweed, who pointed out a large creel full to me, just taken in the nets, and amongst the whole there was but one Salmon. The Sea-Trout may be known by being paler, and covered with more spots, and by being longer and thinner in the body; the head is also much longer.

There is a rich golden hue over the Salmon when you get a side look of it; the body is plump and boar-backed, the head is very small, and there are few spots, except above the lateral lines.

I have seen the Par so numerous in the River Dovey, in Wales, that a man (a guide), took my salmon rod, and a cast of four small flies, the sun shining, and in two hours he killed nine pounds weight of these fish, about a finger in length or less. It perfectly surprised me; but it seems that this was but a small quant.i.ty in comparison to what the fishers were in the habit of taking out in a day. It appeared so, as the inn-keeper's wife potted them in large jars. These rivers abound with Sewen, Sea-Trout, and White Trout; the first-named fish is the White Trout of Wales, which corresponds with the Irish fish of that name, and called in Wales, Sewen. The Par may be the fry of these fish, which are of the Salmon species, and ought to be protected by law.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate of Gaudy Flies, Nos. 1, 2, 3]

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 make 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 "anch.o.r.ed."

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 c.o.c.k 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 peac.o.c.k 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate of three Salmon-flies, Nos. 4, 5, 6]

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 peac.o.c.k 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 c.o.c.k'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 c.o.c.k 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).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Plate of four Flies, Nos. 7, 8, 9, 10]

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 c.o.c.k-saddle feather, having a motley yellowish hue, and peac.o.c.k 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 c.o.c.k'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 peac.o.c.k 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 peac.o.c.k harl, and a bright small topping for tail; first, a joint of yellow floss, a joint of peac.o.c.k, and two feathers of the red-tipped feather of the crest of the c.o.c.k of the rock tied short above the harl and ribbed with gold; the next is a blue floss silk joint ribbed with gold, a peac.o.c.k harl rolled on close, and two feathers of the crest of the c.o.c.k of the rock tied close above it; and the third is an orange floss silk joint, a peac.o.c.k 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-c.o.c.k feathers, and two shorter feathers of the golden pheasant neck, the white ends of the jungle-c.o.c.k 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 peac.o.c.k 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 c.o.c.k 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 c.o.c.k, 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 quant.i.ty 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 c.o.c.k'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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Large Spring Salmon-fly]

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 peac.o.c.k 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.

SPRING FLIES.

The following fine large flies will be excellent killers in the Shannon, the Tweed, the Thurso, the Spey, and the Tay, in the spring season. The bodies to be made small, the wings large.

No. 1. The body is made of sky blue floss silk, ribbed with broad silver tinsel, tip of silver, and orange tag; a dark blue hackle from the tail up; two toppings in the tail, a large yellow pig hair or mohair head (white seal fur dyed yellow does well), a blue jay round the shoulder; the wings are a large yellow and a large blue feather of the macaw, which grows on the back and under the wings of that bird, two orange macaw feathers an inch shorter on each side of them, two toppings, a mixture of argus, bustard, scarlet and blue macaw, good size strips of each. No. 1 hook, full salmon size.

No. 2. The body is made of black floss silk, tipped with silver, tag of orange, ribbed with broad silver plate up the body, beside which a claret hackle, and the tail two toppings; the wings are made of a large red rump spear feather of the golden pheasant in the centre, four large toppings with a mixture of sprigging at each side of the following: Argus pheasant tail, bustard, blue and yellow macaw, blue jay at the shoulder, and a large size head of puce pig hair. Hook No. 1 or 2, Spring Salmon size.

No. 3. The body is made of black floss silk, ribbed with silver, orange tag, tip of silver, tail a topping with a little red; the wings are made of the whole yellow feathers of the macaw which grow under the wings of the bird, two tipped feathers mixed with bustard, Argus, blue and scarlet macaw, and a blue head of pig hair or mohair. No. 1 or 2 hook.