REELS, LINES AND LEADERS 73 



able to judge accurately the quality of leaders, and 

 also know about the different sizes in which they are 

 made for various conditions. Briefly, the material from 

 which leaders, and the snells of flies and hooks, are 

 made, is the silk of the Spanish or Italian silkworm, 

 the silk or " gut " being drawn from the worm to the 

 desired length (from 10 to 15 inches, the short lengths 

 being afterward knotted together to form the com- 

 plete leader) and subsequently sorted and made into 

 bunches or " hanks " according to caliber and quality. 

 As a matter of fact the silk is drawn out to a greater 

 length than the final length of the strand, for there 

 is considerable waste at each end of the strand on 

 account of the manner in which the gut is cured and 

 made into hanks. 



Good quality gut is round, hard and smooth. Cheap 

 gut is fat in places and frays easily. When testing a 

 leader look over its length very carefully 

 for flat places. Leaders which are very How to 

 faulty in this respect can sometimes be .5 , 

 discarded at sight, but often the flatness 

 can only be detected when the gut is rolled between 

 the fingers. Flatness spells a degree of weakness that 

 is by no means to be trusted. For hardness test the 

 leader between the teeth. Certain writers about fish- 

 ing tackle, in referring to silkworm gut, have used the 

 terms " clear " and " transparent," and recommended 

 that the angler use only leaders having this charac- 

 teristic. As a matter of fact, almost all gut on the 



