FISHING-LINES. 259 



place, be composed of the very best material, which, in 

 this case, is raw silk. It should be of very small caliber, 

 the smallest that can be made consistent with strength, and 

 raw silk fulfills this condition better than any other mate- 

 rial. It should be very hard, compact, and closely braided. 

 These conditions secure a line that renders freely and easily, 

 is quite elastic, and at the same time absorbs but little water, 

 and will not kink or snarl in casting. The line should, 

 moreover, be tinted some suitable color, to render it as 

 nearly invisible as possible, for it must be remembered that 

 we can not use a gut leader in casting the minnow. 



The braided or plaited raw-silk line, as now made, ful- 

 fills all of the above conditions, except in caliber, and the 

 manufacturers above referred to assured me that it could 

 be made one-half less in size, were there a demand for 

 such a line. There has been no inquiry for such a line, 

 because it is known that there is none to be had ; but the 

 Black Bass anglers, who fish the streams of the South and 

 West, almost universally use the relaid Japanese grass- 

 line (which is made of raw silk), nothwithstanding its 

 kinking propensities, for in every other particular it is a 

 good line. For lake-fishing, where the Bass are larger, the 

 braided silk and linen lines are used almost exclusively. 



The best line, then, we wall say, is the braided, or plaited 

 raw-silk line — letter G, or No. 5 — for ordinary fishing; but 

 where the Bass average fully three pounds, the next largest 

 size — letter F, or No. 4 — may be used, though I would 

 advise the smaller line even here to be employed in prefer- 

 ence. Raw silk lines require the greatest care to preserve 

 their usefulness. They should be carefully dried after 

 use, as soon thereafter as possible, for without this caution 

 they soon become weak and rotten. And, moreover, a 



