OTHER WAYS OF TAPERING 101 



There are two other methods whereby a 

 correct taper may be secured. The first is to 

 cut each end of the doubled, twisted gut before 

 laying it on the hook with a straight-bladed, 

 strong, sharp pair of scissors. The second is 

 to soak the gut thoroughly in warm water, and 

 allow the ends to unravel and straighten before 

 tying on. The unravelled and straightened ends 

 can then be very easily pared down, but this 

 method is open to the objection that the gut 

 will, when dry, shrink, and so possibly loosen 

 the security of its attachment ; and the gut 

 loop so treated has a disagreeable tendency to 

 twist round and depart from its proper relation 

 to the hook, with the likelihood added that the 

 working of the fly will be impaired. 



On the whole, I think that the method 

 of tapering first mentioned, though not the 

 easiest, is the best ultimately.* 



Whatever method of tapering is adopted, 

 the thing to bear in mind is that the extremity 

 of the gut should reach a point slightly in 

 front of the part of the hook eventually to be 

 occupied by the butt, if there is one, or the 



*" Loosely twisted gut is much easier to taper than 

 tightly twisted gut. 



