The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-05-05

mental rods placed. The best hooks are
steel, and german silver continues to be
used for rod ferules, Reels are made oil
aluminium, but they are said to be part
failure in practice The only advantage
ever claimed for them over rubber, brass
and german silver reels was that they
were lighter. An alloy was necessary
and the alloy made the reel as heavy as
the one it was intended to supersede.
Most manufacturers have either dropped
them or given them second place, The
one complete innovation is a new spin
ner made of aluminium. The old spin
ner is like the bowl of shallow spoon.
| The new one is shaped like four-cor-
nered cigar with both ends cut off, so
that it is two inches long Each edge
has a half-inch wing and a treble hook
or tandem on smell. 1t is a hollow
and almost floats. 1t was designed to
troll over and along patches of weeds
No one has invented hook yet which
| will not catch on snags, but will hold a
fish, There are any amount of snag re-
| leasers and some few alleged snag avoid
| ers, but the latter also have a way of
keeping clear of the fish jams, which
counter balances their value. The best
arrangement so far brought out is one
which appeared along the Mississippi,
Missouri and other western rivers. No
one knows who invented it. The hook
is fly used for bass and trout trolling.
1t is tied on a fought hook for west
ern consumers. The feathers are very
heavy and are so arranged that the
! thickest of them covers the barb of the
hook. The fishermen drag them over al
most anything in the water and the
point does not catch. The fish of west
ern streams are fierce biters and not
nibblers like the more fastidious ones of
eastern waters and they crush the
feathers in and hold the hook. Eastern
trout seem to come at the bait with their
mouths shut. and the feathers would
| keep the hook out of their jaws. The
flies are tied upside down according to
eastern notions, the wings covering the
! barb. Added to that, they have two
sets of wings. one at the head, the other
| halfway down the body. Some of the
flies are over two inches long and are
colored from red to green and blue.
They are made to order for the whole
sale and retail trade.
The best flies are all made with the
wings reversed. That is when the feath-
ers are tied on the hooks they are laid
along it with the tips toward the SMELL
| Then they are bent back and tied over
| the. feathers again. The fluttering fly is
| sometimes mistaken for the reversed
winged one. The flutterer has its head
at the bend of the hook and it's tail is
along the snood. The fluttering flies are
all smaller in proportion because they
keep the wings and legs spread, instead
of lying down on the hook as in ordinary
flies.
Flies are made waterproof now for the
general trade, which is something new.
A cement is used instead of silk thread
to lay the hook to the silk worm gut and
the body is wound tightly on this. Then
the body is closely wound with silk
worm gut, slightly stained to the color
of the body. The water does not pene-
trate the gut and as it Is not easily torn
by a fish's teeth, it is probably an i'm
provement which will last, The only
objection offered to 1t is that it may feel
harsh to the mouth of fish, but fish
drop all flies quickly if not struck and
hooked and the gut will probably not
make any difference.
The gut on which the flies are fast
ened is variously treated to make it in
visible in the water. The pure white
gut is easily seen at times and so prepa-
rations are made to stain it to the color
of water; a. light blue, or gray mist
color are the common stains. The prep
arations are secret and known to but
few.
Tackle makers employ chemists to
make dyes, CLUES, varnishes and stains
for the silks, rods and quits. Dyes which
most color water when poured into 1t
have been sought and found. Feathers
of natural color are always best, but the
demand for these is so great that single
feathers of which the crest of the male
golden pheasant is an example cost six
cents apiece, and two or three are used
for some flies Naturally these flies are
expensive Where the supply is less
than the demand dye has to be used.
So many brown hackles are used-the
hackle is from ROSTERS neck-that
white and gray ones have to be dyed to
the proper color for the cheaper flies.
Girls make all the flies for the trade
and they begin very young to learn the
trade. There are few men who can
make good flies, but men do make the
best combinations from the artistic point
of view. But they are slower. Flies
cost from twenty cents to two dollars
and a half dozen for trout flies. but
dollar dozen gets as good flies as any
amateur needs.
The leaders to which the flies are at
tached are made in various styles and
qualities The best are made to stand
six. nine and twelve pounds pull for
trout They have no knots, the strands
being dashed together and glued, so that
the connections, which are usually the
weak point in the leaders, are the
strongest They are twenty-four, forty
eight and seventy-two inches long and
cost two, four and six dollars Dozen
Spliced and tied leaders cost less in pro-
portion to their quality. The usual
price paid is $1.3O a dozen for three-foot
leaders. One can get leaders for forty
cents dozen, but the leader is one of
the most important parts of an outfit,
and the experts examine and test every
inch of their leaders lest a big trout find
the kink in it. All leaders are made of
mist or bued gut nowadays.
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