A Dry-Fly Purist's Advice to a Beginner. 39 



pliable. Always test every knot before beginning 

 to fish. These preparations and precautions are 

 very important, and lead to success, but no gut 

 must be left in the box when the day's sport is over. 

 Stretch your gut-cast straight before looping it on 

 to the running line. 



Boxes for flies and gut. All my japanned and 

 elaborately constructed and wastefully expensive 

 boxes for the above purposes I have relegated to 

 the reserve stock of tackle seldom used, chiefly 

 because they are heavy and cumbersome. Instead 

 thereof, the following are sufficient, i.e., six round 

 tin boxes three-quarters of an inch deep and 3^ in. 

 in diameter, painted inside and out in bright colours, 

 in pairs, with AspinaH's enamel (any lady friend will 

 be glad to do it for you). The object of the bright 

 colour of the box is that if dropped in the water 

 meadows or elsewhere it may be more readily seen 

 and picked up ; it may also be made useful to 

 indicate the contents without opening the lid : for 

 instance, if you appropriate blue for gut casts and 

 points, crimson for quill-bodied flies, and scarlet for 

 other sorts of flies. Cover the bottom of the blue box 

 inside with a round of thin sheet cork, easy to take 

 in and out this is to keep it dry. In three of these 

 boxes you can carry all that is required for the day's 

 fishing. The other three will do for reserved flies 

 and gut, which of course you will leave at home. 



