KNOTTING GUT LINES. 455 



lashing may then be touched with shellac varnish (see 

 Eecipes and Notabilia), and the hook put aside in a 

 dry place till required for use. It is always desirable, 

 where you use shellac varnish, to employ it some time 

 before using the tackle, as, if not quite dry, the varnish 

 turns to an opaque white colour when the tackle is used. 



The next thing the young aspirant to skill in tackle- 

 making will attempt, will be in tying threads of gut 

 together for lines. Of course the selection of the gut 

 depends upon the purpose it is to be put to, but it is 

 common, both with bottom and fly-fishing lines, to taper 

 them ; that is, the stoutest gut is reserved for the upper 

 part of the line, or that to which the running or reel line 

 is tied and the finer for the part near the hook, and it 

 graduates in stoutness from one to the other. Gut should 

 be moistened in lukewarm water (if time can be spared, 

 cold is better) before it is tied ; and the older the gut is 

 the more thoroughly soaked it must be, and the more 

 carefully and closely the knots must be drawn together, as 

 it gets brittle with age. To tie two threads of gut to- 

 gether, place two ends side by side, overlapping each other 

 for a couple of inches or so, and then tie the knot shown 

 in fig. 3, Plate III. p. 95. Draw it closely home, and 

 snip off the short ends. This knot is generally secure 

 enough, if it be properly drawn home ; but to render it 

 more secure, I touch the knot, ivhen the gut is dry^ 

 with shellac varnish. If, however, this be not thought 

 secure enough, then it is usual to take another turn in the 

 fold, as shown in fig. 4. The double folds, though they 

 make rather a large knot, render a slip impossible. There 

 is another way, the same used when dropper flies are 

 needed to be fastened in, and that is shown in fig. 2 

 in the same plate, and it is a very good plan. Some 

 people whip the ends of the gut on to the main line 

 so as to secure the knot, but the whipping always frays 



