CHAP, XX. Gut. 277 



up in your book or case, I would suggest well wetting or straightening 

 it in the river, before trusting it with a heavy fish. Indeed, I would 

 suggest well wetting it whether it has been so doubled up or not, for 

 the fish may give it an uncanny turn, and I have lost two good fish in 

 an evening, and that on treble gut fresh from England, solely from the 

 gut being dry and brittle and easily broken. Always soak your gut 

 thoroughly, therefore, both before tying, and before fishing. Do not 

 trust to your not getting a run the first half dozen casts, and your line 

 being by that time well soaked and pliable, but soak before endangering 

 it at all. And if you have a man with you, as elsewhere recommended, 

 always keeping a second hook ready baited for you, take care that that 

 snood is well soaked. Do not let him hang it out to dry in his hand 

 or keep it in his pocket, but have him drop it into the bait-can when 

 ready, and let it soak there till wanted. I always put my spinning 

 trace and two flights of hooks into the bait-can before starting for 

 the river side, so that, by the time I reach the fishing-ground, they 

 are soft from having been well soaked, and I can begin fishing with 

 them without delay. Another simple plan is to steep a pocket- 

 handkerchief in water, half wring it out, and wrap your tackle in it 

 before starting. 



Rust-eaten Gut. A constant source of disappointment in India 

 is the swivels rusting, and eating into the gut to which they are tied, 

 and the gut consequently giving there when you get a heavy fish. 

 If they have been put by for a fortnight, always try them in your 

 hand before risking them. Don't be afraid of breaking them, it is 

 much better that you should do so yourself and re-tie, than that a 

 fish should break it for you, and carry away your phantom, or spoon 

 into the bargain. But well soak before testing, or you do not give the 

 gut fair play, and it may crack from brittleness at the double, though it 

 would be strong enough after being soaked. Test with an even strain, 

 not a jerk. The simplest way to test fairly is to hook one end of your 

 line on to a nail or something unyielding, and the other end on to a 

 spring weigher, and pull in a straight line till the spring shows a tension 

 of 3 Ibs. for trout lines, or 10 Ibs. for salmon or Mahseer lines, Ib. for 

 single hair lines. 



Preserving Gut. Gut is preserved by being kept from the air 

 and light in an even temperature. I keep mine in a wash-leather bag 

 placed in a tin box, and that in a drawer or box. 



