Regarding the Beaverkill, the name of which is so suggestively American to one at all familiar with the trout streams of the East, it might be well to amplify to some extent, as I am sure many anglers would otherwise take exception to the statement that this fly is of English origin. In "Familiar Flies," by Mary Orvis Marbury--an invaluable book for the fly-fisherman--it is related that an American angler, fishing one day with a cast of three English flies, had particularly good luck with a certain one of the three, and subsequently had the pattern copied by the famous old-time fly-tier, Harry Pritchard. At that time the fly was christened the Beaverkill, it being evident, from the facts as stated, that the English name of the pattern was unknown to the parties.
From the story as told in "Familiar Flies" it may be gathered that even the persons who introduced the "Beaverkill" to American waters in time lost sight of the fact that the fly was originally dressed after an imported model. Personally, I am sure that the Beaverkill is none other than the "silver sedge," a well-known English pattern used frequently in both wet and dry fly fishing, and I am certain that anyone who will take the trouble to compare the two flies side by side will quite agree with me.
As to the basic principle of trout fly-fishing, that of approximating with the utmost fidelity, in the dressing and manipulation of the artificial fly, the shade, shape, and movement of the natural fly, various "schools" have arisen from time to time in advocacy of the greater importance of coloration as compared to size and shape (within reasonable limits, of course), or, again, of the action imparted to the artificial fly as compared with its coloration, size, or form. Into matters of this sort it is needless to enter here. The practical, common-sense point of view would seem to be that neither the proper color nor the correct imitative action of the artificial fly can safely be disregarded by the angler; moreover, the size and the shape of the artificial, varied to suit the occasion, are factors of great importance. By the skilful employment of the modern tackle and methods of the dry fly caster the angler approaches very closely to the ideal principle of his craft--exact imitation of nature.