TERMINAL TACKLE 83 



caster's attention. All other materials experimented 

 with by me have proven too harsh for the thumb, 

 that valuable member being worn to the very 

 "quick" in a few hours casting when the line has been 

 at all rough or hard; indeed, with the softest of silk 

 lines on my reel I have more than once been com- 

 pelled to forego angling because my thumb would 

 not endure the wear of the spinning spool. It goes 

 without saying that the rodster's line should be 

 braided and not twisted, for the twisted thread will 

 kink and snarl in a manner undreamed of by the 

 braided, though the latter can kink upon occasion as 

 every caster has discovered to his sorrow. The wise 

 angler will choose the so-called "soft braided" line 

 because it is less severe upon the thumb than the 

 "hard braided," then, too, the former spools more 

 evenly and closely than the latter, a very decided 

 advantage. The line should be without waterproof- 

 ing, or any sort of dressing whatever; you may set 

 that down as an axiom, though an ambitious maker 

 once sent me a special waterproof line, built with the 

 caster's requirements in mind, which was a wonder, 

 but hard upon the thumb after all. After many years 

 of experience and experiments I have come to the 

 conclusion the undressed, soft braided line is the only 

 thing for the bass-caster. 



Naturally, the caster is at the mercy of the dealer, 

 for no matter how well a line may be made, if the 

 retailer has held it in open stock for a year or two, 



