76 ROD AND RIVER 



knot, or cut it out and make a proper water-knot 

 such as I have described, for the gut is certain to 

 break there, and this, especially with salmon-gut, 

 is a point to which it is necessary to pay very 

 careful attention. 



As I propose to deal with flies both natural 

 and artificial in a separate chapter or chapters 

 later on, I will forbear from making any reference 

 to them at present ; and as we have discussed 

 the requirements of rod, reel, line and gut, I 

 may as well turn my attention to the other por- 

 tions of fishing equipment which are necessary. 



A landing-net is a sine qua non, for no fish 

 of any size can possibly be landed without its 

 aid, especially on fine tackle. There are ever 

 so many different varieties of nets made and sold, 

 some few of which are really good and practical 

 The great fault of the majority of landing-nets 

 is that they are too small in the bow, and the 

 net itself not deep enough. It is not so easy 

 as it may appear to land a large fish, even with 

 a good net, and the difficulty and risk of losing 

 it is considerably increased if it is too small and 

 shallow. The proper shape for the bow of a 

 landing-net is that of a pear, rather than circular ; 

 and it should also be of wood in preference to 

 iron, as being more convenient to carry. There 

 are several descriptions of folding-rings, amongst 



