of silk fl oss, of chenille (Regular,
Tinsel, Short Flash, Long Flash, Ultra),
French Wire (gold, silver, copper, in
Small, Medium, and Large), and so on.
The trout fl ies have their names, though.
Hard to match them for liveliness and
unexpectedness in certain sequences
or pairings the names come in: bright
miniature assemblages of the language
into not-quite-compositions, with
their fl eeting intimations, so that
each fl y has its aureole, hovering
just out of reach with just suffi
you could take hold of.
he remembered. He was pausing here and there
at the name beneath the photograph
of a trout fl y in its row. Some names
had their accidental beauty, some
an unaccountable oddity (e.g.
Bead Head Blood Mohair); some
a satisfying plainness ( Joe's Hopper,
this with the most recessive of
aureoles). He turned to the fi rst section
of Orvis fl ies and began sampling.
Pale Evening Dun (his favorite, in
the beauty category), Halfback
Nymph (a combination that can't
be imagined), Rat Face McDougal, Green
Drake, Light Cahill, Hare's Ear, Blue Dun,
Dark Spruce, Royal Wulff , Grizzly
Wulff , Quill Gordon (one of the oldest
of patterns), Yellow Stimulator,
Marabou Muddler, Royal Trude, Elk