CHAPTER I. 



On Tackle 



DRY-FLY FISHING TACKLE. 



5O much has been written on this subject that it may 

 be thought that nothing remains to be said. Such 

 is not the case, however. Every year sees changes 

 occurring in the minutiae connected with the 

 apparatus and its manufacture. Thus in the last forty 

 years indeed, ever since the publication of Stewart's 

 " Practical Angler," the fly rod has grown shorter, 

 stouter, and more powerful, and the casting lines heavier 

 and thicker. As most are aware, the heavy-line system 

 has been, as regards trout fishing, a thing of modern 

 growth. This heaviness has been obtained by using a 

 boiled-oil dressing applied to a double-tapered silk 

 line, i.e., one which is much thicker in the middle than 

 at the two ends. This tapering has in recent years been 

 carried to a ridiculous extent in this country, so that in 

 casting competitions rods specially built like weaver's 

 beams are necessary to stand the tremendous strain of 

 the heavy double-tapered lines used. 



That rod and line must fit each other is a fact which 

 has been brought prominently forward by many 

 writers, and very full details have been given on the 

 subject. 



But this is only half-truth, and it must not be forgotten 

 that the resiliency of a light rod is often permanently 

 damaged by the use of a heavy tapered line, and that a 

 light line will not bring out the full spring of a powerful 

 rod. 



The Harden rod, built by Messrs. Hardy for our 



