RIVER FISH AND FISHING. 377 



or drum on which to wind the line, instead of a small cen- 

 tral spindle. By the use of this large drum even a salmon 

 line may be taken in as rapidly as can be desired, and the 

 line lies much more evenly and free from any kind of 

 hitch, with the great advantage that it will give off the 

 line readily to the end. 



The foot-length, or the extreme portion of the line, 

 is composed of finer materials than the reel-line, in order 

 to escape the eye of the fish. It is generally made of 

 pieces of gut, knotted together, and altogether comprising 

 a length of from three to eight feet. Sometimes it is of 

 single gut throughout, but generally of two or three thick- 

 nesses of twisted gut at the end next the line, then of two, 

 and finally of one piece of gut. This material is the pro- 

 duce of the silkworm, and is the unspun substance intend- 

 ed for silk, but made into gut instead by the art of man. 

 The silkworm, just before spinning, is broken in two by 

 the hand of the gut-maker, who, by drawing the pieces 

 apart, obtains gut of any firmness, according to the length 

 to which he pulls it. Considerable knack is required to 

 make it uniformly round and free from weak places, which 

 should be searched for carefully in selecting gut for the 

 single lengths. Horse-hair is sometimes used for this 

 purpose, and in some instances gimp, consisting of silk 

 protected by wire. All these various sorts will be treated 

 of under the respective kinds of fishing in which they are 

 employed. 



Hooks are pieces of bent steel wire, barbed at the 

 point, and of various sizes and forms. They are made 

 according to the respective patterns which are fancied by 



