TACKLE AND TACKLE MAKING. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



IN the following chapters it is my intention to supply the angler with 

 brief descriptions and illustrations of such tackle as he may require 

 in his travels after sport. As indicated in the former part of this 

 work, a separate section is necessarily devoted to this object. In 

 addition to this, I purpose explaining, as far as is ordinarily useful, the 

 methods of tackle making. Except in connection with the raw material 

 I always, or nearly so, manufacture my own tackle. Of course, I do 

 not make my own hooks, but I do whip them on to their attachments as 

 occasion requires ; and so, I think, ought every angler, if he wishes to 

 acquire an accurate knowledge of his resources. By the word resources 

 I mean the strength of his tackle ; for no man can tell whether a ship 

 will weather the blast unless he has some idea of how it is put together. 

 I purpose, therefore, giving such particulars of tackle and tackle 

 making as will enable the veriest novice to acquaint himself with the art 

 of preparing his own lures. The time will never come again when every 

 angler will make his own rods or hooks, but there is no doubt the time 

 will be, and possibly now is, when each clever fisherman will adapt his 

 baits to the inbred predilections of the finny tribe, and when he will 

 become, to a certain extent, independent of all but the rod, hook, gut, 

 and gimp-maker, so far as tackle making is concerned. There is con- 

 siderable difficulty in explaining mechanical processes to the enlighten- 

 ment of the reader and the satisfaction of the author, and especially 

 those which depend for their effective execution upon dexterity. The 



