GOOD FISHING-TACKLE INDISPENSABLE 41 



good workman who finds fault with bad tools, 

 and from not being used to them, will give up 

 the labour before him in sheer disgust at having 

 to use them. 



The difficulties of fly-fishing are quite enough 

 without their being further increased to a beginner 

 by reason of his being handicapped with rubbish- 

 ing tackle. Good tackle is extremely difficult to 

 procure ; even an old hand may at times be 

 deceived into purchasing an article which can, 

 by means of varnish, etc., be made to appear 

 good, and yet prove utterly worthless when put 

 to the test. The fisherman, therefore, is very 

 much in the hands of his tackle-maker, and, as 

 in every other trade, there are tricks in that 

 of fishing-tackle manufacture. Good work and 

 materials are never cheap, and good both must 

 be. The fish are in the river and the angler is 

 on the bank, and it is the desire of the latter to 

 secure the former. His tackle being the means 

 he proposes to employ, it stands to reason that 

 forming, as he hopes and intends it may, a link 

 between him and the fish, that link must, from 

 the rod in his hand to the hook in the mouth of 

 the fish, be as perfect as it well can be, and free 

 from any flaw, or else it must break, and he be 

 left lamenting. 



The rod must be our first consideration, and 

 it is necessary to go into the matter of material, 



