GUT-TIPS 299 



looked to and used, and no knot ever allowed to 

 remain. They should be stained to suit the 

 colour of the water ; strong tea, ink-and- water, or, 

 best of all, a piece of green baize boiled in water, 

 will answer the purpose. 



The same description of damping- box as that 

 which I have recommended for trout-casts will be 

 found most useful for salmon-gut. It is always 

 advisable to soak salmon-gut previously to putting 

 it into the box; there will then be no possibility of 

 its becoming broken through kinking. 



Many people make use of what are termed 

 4 tips ' for the purpose of attaching and detaching 

 a fly more readily. These are merely a length 

 of gut with a loop at one end, which is slipped 

 through a corresponding loop on the casting-line ; 

 the other end is knotted on to the fly. They are 

 useful, save time and trouble, and are economical ; 

 but I do not think that they are ever as neat or 

 workmanlike as when the end of the casting-line 

 is fastened direct to the fly. The two loops must, 

 if ever so closely pressed, make more or less of a 

 blur in the water, and this is one of the things 

 most necessary to avoid. 



Every salmon-fly is s furnished with an eye at 

 the head ; this eye is either of gut, or forms part 

 of the shank of the hook is, in fact, an eyed 

 hook. It is placed there for the purpose of 

 attachment to the casting-line or tip, as the 



