New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-22
TO BE HAD IN NO STOKE.
BUT THE LAPLAND sPLIT-wING GRIMPEH
IS A WONDERFUL FLY FOR TROUT.
TT WAS NEW ONE ON AN EXTREMELY SKILLED
FISHERMAN, AND INFORMATION ABOUT
~ocr HIM SUPPER.

1T WAS A NEW ONE ON AN EXTREMELY sKihhED
FISHERMAN. AND INFORMATION ABOUT
1T COST HIM SUPPER
A .eading turfrnan and breeder OF thorougnoreos
from the interior Of the State. VINO mas d" go
siye circle OF friends and acquaintance. 10
tremely methodlcal in his ways ana careiu'' -
down every detail of anything In wnich ne 10 "a
terss,ed This turfman Is a keen nsher'na'' a
so,,h,s IN woonp members Of the fnny tribe
fron, their fayorte haun,s in the lakes ana streams
In the region OF the Adirondacks Trout arc re
particular delight. and he is well known 40 ''s
neighb orhood n which he lives as the po9Se7So' %
the largest and most varied collection OF mes % an
persons In the community Of trout-catchers 'ha' 80,
sdo IN the line OF the New-York Central from Al
honv IN Rufralo Moreover. he rs looked upon as a"
exnert upon all questions pertaining 70 trou'-"
I'D Tho lures used by fishermen In the shape OF nies
and Of bait In the Adirondack region. For co"'e eli"
fence sake this expert will be called Mr. oah''
In the city In which Mr. Sand lives there Is an,
.har d,sc,n.e OF Izaak Walton who is wag anu
uno dearly loves a Joke. one day last autumn"
Mr. Gill as he will be called in this story, was hs"-
ing in one OF the many lakes IN the Au"o"
with Mr. Sand. The latter, who was acco"'pa''eU
by his valet Dennis. occupied one ea"oe' anu
C,u was in another them. As usuai ""e"
eh,rg in tho lakes of the Adrondacks. each man
usod , loader with two auxiliary lines MI. Sand
man Dennis was seated In the bottom Oh 'he ea"o'
with a hook Mr. Sand was using n'eS VI ~
different kinds Dennis carefully noted down !" 'hs
book on which fly each hsh was ca"s"'' w
c,ued off the record at intervals to his employer
NJ en- who kept no record, soon became an Cd
iect OF much interest to Mr.. Sand. owing 10 inc
ono,,ng freouency with which he landed large ana
beautiful trout
FLIES THAT AvAILED NOT
Mr.. Sand changed his flies so often tha' DENNIS
could hardly fni time to keep the notes. ou' WI
Sand in spite OF his great knowledge Oh HES anu
his methodica ways. was unable 70 OBTAIN NOR
than a few strikes at his a.lurng baits lie .I'e'
e,es OF many descriptions and colors 1t was OF no
avail. however. as MI Gil Caught DIN " " "
Sands ,oa
Al last Mr.. Sand gave up In despair, ana ordereo
Dennis 10 paddle over to Mr.. Gills boat The foi-
lowing colloQuy ensued:
Mr. Sand asked: ,,,
"Oh lust ordinary. common Old flies. Any kind
a., an did Nv should catch trout to-day. never
sav them so voracous," Mr. Gill replied
Would you mind permitting me to examine your
hies?" Mr.. Sand inquired
certainly with pleasure as soon as land this
trout" .,...,
Mr. Gill landed the trout all right. and permitteu
Mr. Sand to examine his flies.
Dennis. have we any flies like these?' Mr.. sand
asked.
y dunno, sir. but will look in the Dukes
A careful study of several minutes developed the
fact that the Dukes" contained flies OF the same me
color. but an attachment on the hooks puzzled inc
Thin is oIsh ss lSke t. thin they s ISe ,b IN
throut in the lake" - ,o,..rdad
NJ Gin made another cast and was eva .ni
plored Mr. Gil to tell him the name OF the mes ana
where they could be obtained .o Mr. G sr saa
ers and YOU can get them at any nrst-class store
In New-York where sportsmen's outhts are dealt
sand a Try 10 n Nh SHf sat xho IN ms aSased
10 catch a trout at almost every cast. +r tc
THE STORES DIDN'T HAVE THEM. eU.
few weeks later Mr. Sand visited this city.
where he drove several statesmen in the sporting
goods stores to distraction and drink. owing TO
his persistence In his search for the trout fly known
as the Lapland split-wing grinper. His search
in vain The OF rB BHSss afa To s
cure the flies that forced trout to rise TO them as hyn
noticed Cable dispatches were sent to Dublin and
Killarney on Dennss advice as he H piers When IN
M Sand received answers to his cable messages
requesting him to try Lap.and he gave up In despair
his rfe.long friend Mir Gnl had misnformed him
about the Lapiand spllt-wIng srmpers
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE GRIMPER
When the men met in their club. Mr. Sand was
rather cool toward Mr.. Gill. He told OF his en-
deavors to obtain some OF the Lapland spit-wing
was convulsed with laughter that could not be sup
pressed. His friends alarmed for a time Mr.
Sand gazed upon him In awe, and evidently pc
lieved he had lost his reason After some time Mr.
s S,i 'Sa H sfm se as follows SA' VIC
Every member OF this club knows that am the
poorest fisherman. in this whole region i has been
a standing joke for years about my luck with the
rod and fly One day last fall was fishing with
Mi Sand, but. usual. | could catch very few,
while Mr.. Sand caught many big FISH. ! thought
| would try an experiment. and accordingly cut
out the fins OF some OF the smaller trout | had
caught. and ran the hooks through them. with the
most marvellous results; Throughout the after
noon had heard Dennis calling of the various
names OF trout flies. and consequently when l
had struck bonanza in the shape OF ny l de,
sired to give 1t a name and to have some fun.
had heard that Irishman call flies Swedish Nor
egian. From this concocted the title of the Lap
land spit-wing grlmper when Mr. Sand asked me
the name OF the fly. When Dennis was told to
note down carefully. the name and when he said i
kept It until now I believe the wine and suppers
are on Mr.. Sand, and we will al drink TO the sue
cess OF the Lapland split-wing grimper"
Mr. Sand laughed over the joke. and all fisher |
men will find that G's Lapland splt-wing grimper |
is valuable addition to any sort OF fly book |
used in either brook or lake trout-fshing.