i6o Wet-Fly Fishing 



This " tip " is very well worth recording. 



He who will not take note of it, deserves 

 to lose his largest trout. 



I have frequently found men using a 

 reel (originally an excellent one) so clogged 

 by reason of neglect, dirt, and verdigris, 

 that it was no wonder they frequently lost, 

 and complained of losing, trout. 



Let any one take a dozen reels, in daily 

 use at a fishing club or inn, and if he does 

 not find some one of them so stiff that it 

 requires a small donkey-engine to haul the 

 line out at all, I shall be pleasantly surprised. 

 So long as a reel does not overrun (and the 

 " ratchet" or "check" is there for that 

 very purpose), it can hardly " pay out " too 

 freely. 



Lines (like reels) should also be of the 

 best ; for, indeed, " cheap and nasty " are 

 many of the lines which are sold at the 

 present day. There is one kind of prepared 

 line which I simply dislike. If the line be 

 suddenly bent back upon itself, or if it 

 " kinks," the outer waterproof " cake " 

 cracks, very much as does an ordinary com- 

 posite candle. 



Any dressing which has this defect is 

 indeed faulty, and for wet-fly work is to be 

 avoided. The best dressing, in my opinion, 



