138 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



Unreel your line every night and let it dry. 



Keep the ratchet wheel of your reel clean and well oiled, 

 and the spindle clean and just sufficiently oiled to allow the 

 drum to run smoothly. 



GUT CASTS 



Gut Casts which have been lying in the damping box 

 all day should be placed in dry flannel at night, and gut 

 should be soaked, carefully tested and examined before 

 being used. 



The length of the gut cast used in dry fly fishing should be 

 about nine feet. I have never found it necessary to use 

 longer ones. 



When the fisherman is casting correctly, he will some- 

 times find that the last few inches of his nine foot gut cast 

 will not be properly extended and will fall backward on itself ; 

 and in such a case he should shorten the length of his 

 cast by a few inches and carefully note the result. Such a 

 fault is, I think, frequently due to the faulty though 

 undetectable tapering, or construction of the taper of his 

 gut points with which the cast is made. I have invariably 

 been able, in a few experimental casts, to correct this fault 

 by slightly altering the length of the cast. 



It is always advisable to test old casts before throwing 

 them away. If the gut has not been exposed to daylight 

 it will be found that by soaking it in a solution consisting 

 of water and about ten per cent, of glycerine its usefulness 

 may be restored. 



The last season's gut is sometimes treated to a judicious 

 soaking in such a solution. 



I have found the best material for floating a line, or a cast, 

 to be hippopotamus fat, but if this be not obtainable, mutton 

 fat is the cheapest and best grease to take with one for 

 applying to the line. It certainly cannot in any way 



