Leaders. 87 



sufficiently humiliating; but at the same time the cloud 

 had its silver lining, though invisible until its shadow had 

 passed. I then learned the lessons which it is the pur- 

 pose of these incidents to impress keep your gut from 

 hot water except in dyeing, and then let the exposure 

 be as brief as possible; and never use an untested leader, 

 no matter how great your confidence in its strength 

 may be. 



The strain imposed upon a leader by even the largest 

 'trout is generally greatly over-estimated. A leader that 

 will endure five pounds steady strain with a spring-bal- 

 ance will, when backed by the elasticity of a fair rod, re- 

 sist the utmost effort of the largest trout that swims the 

 Rangely Lakes. I doubt whether the largest of them on a 

 steady strain can pull one pound in still water; though of 

 course if it gather momentum, and thus throw its weight 

 and velocity suddenly upon a leader, the momentary 

 strain might be much greater. It is also quite another 

 thing to drag a struggling fish through the water against 

 his utmost effort, from merely holding him at a fixed 

 distance. It is quite true that the strain imposed by a 

 spring-balance is an even and steady pull, most favorable 

 to the endurance of the gut ; and also that in actual use, 

 in a moment of inattention on the part of the angler, 

 strains of a different and more sudden nature may be en- 

 countered. But still I believe that a leader that will 

 stand a spring-balance pull of four and a half to five 

 pounds, has ample reserve to meet this. A thin leader 

 is a very decided advantage, and nothing heavier than 

 gut adequate to meet a reasonable margin for deteriora- 

 tion by lapse of time and wear, added to the power of 

 the fish against which it is to be employed, should be 

 used. 



