

REEL-LINES. 53 



It will be seen that the sizes in the preceding scale vary 

 from that of an ordinary piece of stout sewing cotton almost 

 to that of a knitting needle, so that everyone can without 

 difficulty suit his particular objects and tastes. 1 



Then comes the question : Shall the dressed silk line be 

 1 level ' that is, of equal substance throughout or ' tapered,' 

 which means in ordinary parlance, getting finer towards the 

 end at which the casting line is to be attached ? These tapered 

 lines are also made * double tapered,' that is, the line is tapered 

 at both ends. As between level and tapered lines, each has 

 its advantages and its disadvantages, but, on the whole, I 

 think nine fly-fishers out of ten prefer, in practice, a line more 

 or less tapered towards the casting end. 



So far as the actual casting is concerned, apart from ' fine 

 fishing,' these details are of little importance on quiet days, but 

 in stormy weather, when the wind is blowing half a gale, perhaps 

 right in the fly-fisher's teeth, the case is radically altered, and 

 the man whose line is properly tapered and balanced and in 

 weight exactly suited to his rod will be able to go on casting 

 with comparative efficiency, while his neighbour, less perfectly 

 equipped, may find his flies blown back in his face every other 

 cast. 



The importance, to the salmon fisher especially, of a line 

 which will cut its way through a fierce March squall has been 

 so well recognised that in order to give greater ' cutting ' power 

 line-makers have even gone to the extent of manufacturing reel- 

 lines with wire centres. My friend Mr. W. Senior informed me 

 that some he tried, made by Foster, of Ashbourne, answered 

 exceedingly well. I have used them myself also, and in squally 

 weather they certainly possess great * cutting ' power against or 

 across the wind. 



1 The art of dressing a line, whether for trolling or fly-fishing, is in itself a 

 speciality, and one which few amateurs will probably find it worth taking the 

 trouble to practice for themselves, but in case they should desire to become 

 their own line dressers, they are advised to try the receipt given by Major 

 Traherne, in his article on fishing for salmon with the fly, as the result of his 

 experience on the best mode of dressing silk lines for fly-fishing. 



