The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-06-25
A TALK ABOUT
ARTIFICIAL FLIES

Angling comes to US with Biblical
authority, for we read in the divine
work that Adam. who was the first
angler, taught the art to his son Seth,
writes Alex Starbuck in the Cincin-
natl Enquirer. Job also was we'll up
in angling, while the Prophet Amos
also alludes to fish hooks, so you see
angling comes with the first creation
of man. Even the old serpent was an
angler, but he landed his game, to the
greviOus lament of the human family,
with the historic apple. Sir Izaak Wal
ton, honored above all, has beautified
the art and sings its beatific praises
in his, pastoral production. He has
really made fishing the type of the
gentle mind that finds, even in the
midst of hot and angry tumults, a
refuge Tor quiet hours, a haunt Of
peace by happy river Sides"
whether he was the first to intro
duce the fly artificial we cannot verify,
nor do we desire to, but we will affirm
that he was the first to make it the
ne plus ultra of the gentle art" the
first to paint its delicious charms, the
first to make it an unalloyed recrea-
ton and set the pace for fly fishing.
Although his. jury of twelve flies, a
different one for each month, was au
fat at that time, 1T Is now considered
something of a fallacy among the ac-
complished fiy-tOssers of the present
day. The late Fred Mather, an au-
thority Of note on that subject. de-
clareS 1t sheer nonsense, for a fly that
is good on a bright day in spring is
good on any other bright day.
Charles Dudley Warner, writing on
the same subject, says that the trout
is a conventionalized creation, as we
say of Ornamentation. The theory is
that fly fishing being a high art, the
fly must not be a tame imitation of
nature, but an artistic suggestion of it.
The most sensible thing said about
flies is that by Mr.. Charles T. Orvis.
He writes that the kind of flies to be
used varies with the locality. stream,
state ana stage of water, weather, etc.
The only way is to keep trying until
one is found that does please.
Frank Forester emphasizes his ia
vOrites as the red, brown, orange and
yellow haCkles and the blue and yell
low dunS. | could give you a whole
column of noted authorities of the kind
of flies to use. but no two seem to ex-
actly agree, while many are in positive
and negative positions.
Hon. T. A. Logan says: "Give me
the hackels, white millers, Montreals
and professors, and I consider my fly
book complete for any mountain stream
or lake, or any trout that abides there
in. There is more folly expended in
selecting flies by some of our gilt-edged
anglers than will be found in an opera
bOuffe or unctuOus traYeSty."
P. E Roach prefers to tie his own
flies, and declares them TO be a per-
feet terror to any inquisitiVe trout that
toys with them. He is an advocate OF
skillful delivery and dainty fiuttering,
as he thinks they are more important
than feathers. fur or tinsel. His ideas
are truly practical and 1 have often
seen them successfully exemDlihed.
Nv idea, and it is acquiesced in by
many accomplished deVotees of the
gentle art, is that there is more in the
delivery and flutter of a fly than in its
construction or combination of feath-
ers, fur, tinsel, etc. OF course. color
and size have something to do with it.
but not all. A piece of red flannel
or white cloth will at times attract
while the most artistic fly fails to al
lure. Artificial flies are now almost
unlimited in number and variety.
Mary OINlS MaIUuINs III n0I HlCIiIOI-
ious work entitled "Favorite Flies,
treats of fully 300. Nearly every deal
er in sporting goods has that many
varieties in stock, while in addition
many fly fishermen have a number
of their own creations. So you see
what a complexity in choice of flies
exists among the high-grade anglers
Last summer when / was fly fish
| ing for trout on the north shore OF
Lake Superior I compared notes witt
/ Mr.. II. II. Marks, a very. accomplished
/ sportsman, who fished over the same
I waters as I did, and in use of lure:
we were as divergent as chalk from
/ cheese. He had discarded q Parma
! cheene belle, a bright fly. for a Mont
real, a dark fly, while / had the for
mer, which was so tempting that
/ chung to IL during the entire trip
I Again, while fishing in the river Nipi
/ gOn, some twenty years ago, with {
/ party composed of p. z. Roach, II
/ Clay CulbeCtsOn and Hon. T. H. Pax
/ ton, / caught a brook trout weighing
! seven pounds tive ounces with brown
/ haekle No. 1 sproat, while on the sam,
/ day Mr.. Roach caught a seven-pound
4 er with a white miller In fact, eacl
member of the entire party was. il
I nearly every instance, using differen
/ f.ies, and all had ample sport.
The very mention of my big captur
/ revives many delightful memories o
that outing on the famed Nipigon.
1 can now Z most realize the capture o
my big trout. I can see him in tina
4 hidden cham her ha SnaRHS axva-