66 MODERN SEA FISHING 



CHAPTER III 



WHIPPINGS, SERVINGS, KNOTS, HOOKS, AND SUNDRY 

 WRINKLES 



WHILE it is not necessary for a fresh- or saltwater angler to he 

 intimately acquainted with the details of tackle-making, it is 

 certainly most desirable that he should learn how to tie or whip 

 a snooding on to a hook, join lengths of gut together, renew a 

 ring on his rod, and do sundry other little incidental matters 

 any one of which may crop up in the course of a day's fishing. 

 These things are easy, provided we know the right way of doing 

 them ; and everyone who fishes either in fresh water or salt 

 except, of course, anglers of some experience should carefully 

 read the instructions given in this short chapter, made easily 

 understandable by means of diagrams. 



Most necessary materials for repairs and simple tackle- 

 making are wax, some strong silk, linen thread, and lightly 

 twisted, tarred, hemp twine. These are for whippings and 

 servings. I am not sure whether there is any great difference 

 between these two terms. Perhaps when we bind two things 

 together, as, for instance, gut to hook, we should call it a ' whip- 

 ping ; ' while for the simpler binding, intended merely to act as 

 a protection (for instance, a binding of silk laid round a length 

 of gut to prevent a lead which is on the gut from fraying it), 

 we say we 'serve' the line rather than 'whip' it. But the 

 process in each case is the same. 



For wax we should have either that used by cobblers, or 



