TROUT FLY-FISHING IN AMERICA 



passing each strand between the thumb and the middle 

 finger. You will generally find that at least ten per cent., 

 or ten strands of the hundred purchased, will have to be 

 discarded as unfit for use, and that the ninety per cent., 

 or ninety strands remaining, will have to be divided into 

 two grades, in the proportion of thirty medium and sixty 

 heavy, provided you have bought heavy gut. 



In selecting gut for leaders, whether light, medium, or 

 heavy, discard any that is twisted or cracked, retaining 

 only round gut free from visible defect. 



How to prepare the gut for tying: 



After the gut has been graded, to prepare it for mak- 

 ing into leaders, it should be softened by soaking in water 

 from one to two hours, preferably in water the tempera- 

 ture of which is between seventy-five and one hundred de- 

 grees Fahrenheit, in order to get the required softness or 

 pliability of the gut. 



I would not advise using water over one hundred de- 

 grees, although some leader makers use water only a little 

 below the boiling point, or, say, two hundred degrees. 



The greater heat will soften the gut more quickly, but 

 will, in my opinion, weaken it and make the leader liable 

 to give away where it is tied. 



The gut will also have a tendency to "rough-up" on 

 the surface of the strands when handled in making the 

 leader, and especially so when tying and pulling the 

 strands to set the knot. 



Avoid, then, very warm water, but allow sufficient time 



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