The Alder-fly (_Sialis lutaria_, Linn.).
The Alder is a fly which hitherto has taken a position in the dry-fly
fisherman's estimation very much inferior to that which is its due.
Almost every writer on the subject says that it is but rarely found on
the water. It is naturally not found there so often as the flies which
are hatched out in the water, but I have notwithstanding frequently seen
them on the water in fair numbers. The proportion of Alders which get on
the water is probably very small if compared with those which do not;
but as the fly is in some places extremely numerous, even this small
proportion becomes in those places a large number.
A practical proof that they do frequently fall on the water is the
avidity with which the trout feed upon them, and I have almost always
found them in the stomachs of trout when they have been numerous at the
water-side. I have also often dropped a natural Alder on the water and
seen it taken by a trout.
Many will probably think that I have mistaken one of the Caddis-flies
for the Alder, but I can assure them that this is not the case. I have
always, with regard to the Alder especially, made a very careful
examination of the flies at the water-side, and, as every one knows,
even a cursory examination of the fly with a magnifying-glass puts an
end to all doubt as to its being an Alder or Caddis-fly, even if the
knowledge of entomology possessed by him who examines is but small. The
peculiar hump-shape of the wings when at rest also makes an Alder easily
recognisable.
I believe that the great reason that the imitation Alder is not so
successful as it should be, is because the wings are generally put in an
absolutely impossible position. This is not the fault of the
fly-dressers, as all writers on the subject have put the wings in this
position, a position into which they could not get in the natural fly
without the intervention of external violence.
I have, in observing this fly when it has fallen on the water, seen its
wings in the position of rest as often as not. In fact the only other
condition in which I have seen it, is when it has been buzzing
violently, apparently with the object of raising itself from the
surface. Of course the easiest, and in fact the only possible position
in which the wings can be accurately imitated, is the position of rest.
Another mistake in the imitations usually sold, is in the materials used
in the dressing. The body is made very fat, with peacock herle; while in
the natural fly it is decidedly thin, and of a dark brown colour. The
wings are made of brown speckled hen's quill feathers or bustard, which
are of a very much richer brown than the wing of the natural fly, and
lastly the hackle is much too profuse and goes all over the fly. The
following dressing of the Alder I have found to be most successful,
both in my hands and in those of other fishermen.
_Body._ Very dark brown floss silk, carried well on to the bend of the
hook, and there made a trifle thicker. I have at times found it very
successful when ribbed with narrow gold tinsel (00 size).
If the body be covered with thin india-rubber, it will be found to give
the fly a most effective appearance.
_Hackle._ Three or four turns of a black cock's hackle, put on as
described in Chapter III.
_Wings._ From quill feathers of woodcock's wings taken from opposite
sides. The woodcock's feathers have a somewhat shiny appearance; and as
they are also the nearest in colour to the general colour of the Alder's
wings, I think they are the very best feathers to use. I have described
the position in which to put the wings in Chapter III.
_Hook._ No. 2--4, new size.
(Plates I. and II. show the natural Alder and the imitation as it should
appear when finished.)