16 Dry -Fly Fishing. 



awkward and inconvenient. And as it is especially 



necessary to a dry-fly man that it should hang at his 



side easily available, not touch the ground possibly 



to become unhooked as he kneels, leave both his 



hands free one for the rod, and both when tying 



on his fly or manipulating his tackle, I venture to 



present my plan for the benefit of fly fishermen in 



general. The wooden oval frame of my net measures 



16in. by 12in., the net itself is made of Marshall's 



thread on a ^in. mesh ; it is 15in. deep, and forms a 



broad -bottomed bag (nets that come to a point or 



are too deep are very objectionable), and it can be 



dressed with the same preparation of varnish and 



linseed oil as one uses in dressing a running line (of 



course before putting it on the frame), but with 



more linseed oil to thin it ; it should be left in the 



dressing two days, then wrung out, wiped, shaken, 



distended on a hoop, and suspended in the air to dry r 



moderately heavy weights being placed within it to 



pull the knots of the net tighter ; if a new net this 



should also be done before dressing it. Silk nets 



are better still. 



My landing-net handle is made of light bamboo, 

 and, with the indispensable, strong, well-made 

 knuckle-joint, measures 3ft. 8in., long enough to 

 reach over the sedge to a played-out fish and to 

 carry with comfort. Now, how I consider a dry-fly 

 angler should cany his net is as follows : Bind with 



