120 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



of the gut to which it is attached, as it does in the knot which 

 I recommend. If the eye of the fly should be made of gut, 

 as the eye of a salmon fly frequently is, the overhand knot 

 shown in Figure 3 can be slipped down while loose over 

 the eye as shown in Figure 4, and drawn taut, the result of 

 which is shown in Diagram 5, Fig 5, and is known to the 

 sailorman as the " sheet bend." Where patent fibre is 

 used with the gut eyed salmon hooks, a small knot should 

 be made in the end of the line, which will prevent the fibre 

 from drawing, or, in the case of gut, the end can be passed 

 again round the shank of the hook and under the part which 

 runs through the eye. This is called a double " sheet bend " 



DIAGRAM 6. 

 Showing a method of using the overhand knot for large flies. 



by the sailorman. This knot, in my opinion, is a fairly 

 good one for the wet fly fisherman, but a bubble of air is 

 frequently retained by the short end above the eye of 

 the hook, which gives an unnatural appearance to the 

 artificial fly. 



For hooks larger than No. 3 the overhand knot can 

 be made round the threaded part of the gut, and not, 

 as in Figure 4, round the unthreaded part. The knot 

 is then drawn taut, and the end cut off short. The noose 

 thus formed is drawn taut on the unthreaded part, and is 



