454 AMERICAN GAME FISHES. 



because of the angular twist. Gut that is old, or has been 

 exposed to the sunlight, becomes brittle, and will break like 

 a carrot. Refuse this always. 



To keep good gut in a fine state of preservation — and 

 really good gut is worth keeping — the following is a capital 

 formula: take chromic acid, one part; water, five parts; dis- 

 solve the chromic acid. Of this solution take one ounce, 

 and mix with five parts glycerine. Steep the gut ten days; 

 at the end of that time submerge the gut and keep it entirely 

 in one part carbolic acid and five parts glycerine. This is 

 unequaled as a preparation of gut for tying, and as a pre- 

 servative afterward. 



Of course when one is not preparing to tie leaders for 

 Salmon, such elaborate precautions are not necessary. For 

 Bass and Trout (brook and the Von Behr species) the ordi- 

 nary thicknesses in use are suitable. Before tying this 

 together it should be soaked in water of about 80 degrees Fah. 

 for an hour or two. Each knot should be drawn tight with 

 a pair of tweezers; and the leader, for the sake of appeai"ance 

 chiefly, may be stretched on a long board by means of brass 

 pins, till dry. The length of leaders varies from one yard to 

 three — the latter is the general length for Trout-fishing. 

 Besides the two end-loops, two others should be tied in the 

 junctions for the admission of the snells of two dropper-flies. 

 The proper distance of the first from the terminal loop should 

 not be less than twenty inches, and the second should be 

 two feet from the first. 



Fiy. 8. 



In the tying of snells it is frequently advisable to reinforce 

 that part nearest the hook, because the teeth of the fish fre- 

 quently fray it disastrously. I have found nothing superior 

 to the device shown in litr. 8. Of course the kuDttinu" there 



