| OCR Text |
Show By JIM fJjODY Important Book There has just come to our desk a copy of the book, "Flies," By J. Edson Leonard, and we hasten to report here that it is a volume that is destined to become probably the most authoritative on the subject which has ever been made available to the fly-rod addicts and particularly, particu-larly, those who delight in tying their own flies. It is rather well known that publishers pub-lishers have long realized that the one way to obtain a really fine, definitive work on any subject is to choose as its author one who has known, loved and studied the subject for years. And J. Edson Leonard is just such a man. He has fished all his life and has made a specialty of flies since early youth. For the past 15 years he has been collecting, compiling, classifying and editing source material on flies from every English-speaking country coun-try in the world. He has kept records on the appearance ap-pearance of insects, their size and their habits; he has carefully observed ob-served the performance of artificial artifi-cial flies and he has examined the insects found in fishes' stomachs. The result is "Flies," his first book a study unmatched in its field. The particular attraction about Mr. Leonard's fine volume, is that the fisherman literally can "start from scratch" learn how and' why to select materials for making his own flies, what hooks to select and the nomenclature and specifications of 2,200 fly patterns. Easily readable, complete and, as we have said, fully authoritative, this superbly illustrated book may well become the standard reference, refer-ence, as well as a guide, for all fly-fishermen. The eight full pages in color, the 30 black-and-white drawings all made by the author, himself and the 24 full-page photographs are worth the price of "Flies" (A. S. Barnes & Co. $5.00), for here is a monumental, conclusive work which stands out like a light from all other books on the subject. AAA For Light-Tackle Users Ocean City's new lightweight reel (weighing only i ounces) is ideal for the light-tackle devotee dev-otee and the tournament plug-tossers plug-tossers as well. It is constructed entirely of zephaloy, the "miracle "mira-cle metal," and is of sufficient sturdiness to make it the perfect . fishing reel. A feature important impor-tant to anglers is "oilite" self-lubricating self-lubricating spool spindle bearings. bear-ings. Its line capacity is 50 yards of 15-pound test nylon or silk. AAA Retrieving Line To "play one's fly" when fishing, and often to avjid obstacles on the back cast, the angler will want to retrieve part of the line extended on the previous cast. The "pull back" way is one method. Grasp the line with your left hand just back of the butt guide, passing line between first two fingers and cork grip. Pull in line with long sweeps of the left arm, holding the retrieved line in loose coils. The "hand .twist," however, is always best for fly manipulation, for with this method one is able to impart a more life-like motion to the fly. In the hand twist retrieve, grasp the line with thumb and first finger of left hand, palm facing up. Close other fingers firmly over line lying across palm. Then, turn hand palm-down and take more iine with thumb and first finger. The distance dis-tance you want the fly to travel will determine how much line you thus pick up each time. After picking pick-ing up line wanted, turn hand up. Now, repeat the '.notion until you have fished out the cast, or want to pick up all the line for another cast. Sound difficult? Well, it isn't so very difficult and like other techniques tech-niques in the fly-fishing sport, it simply requires p. tienc and practice prac-tice to perfect. AAA Stay Put! Remember, if you are with a party and become lost and do not return to camp, they will start a search for you. Stay put, if necessary neces-sary for a day or two, to give your companions a chance to find you. Light a smudge fire, as it mighl be sighted by soirte forest ranger. If you have a gun, fire it at regular inter-'&ls, if you have a mirror climb to some high point and flash it; but, whatever you do, don'l run helter-skelter. |
