TACKLE AND FISHING GEAR. 93 



bably very often have to carry his fish himself. For this pur- 

 pose bags and baskets ' many and great ' are sold at the tackle 

 shops, but that they are most of them defective in some points 

 in which they might have been perfected, goes without saying. 

 In fact, as regards the bags (which for ordinary purposes I 

 always use myself), I have found them mostly to suffer the dis- 

 ability of coming to pieces if not the first time they had a 

 good catch to carry, at any rate, after say a few days or weeks 

 of wear and tear. 



This is partly owing to the manner of their construction, 

 and partly to the material. In regard to the latter, the impor- 

 tant thing to be aimed at is that the material of which they 

 are made should be thoroughly strong, and at the same time 

 suffici:ntly waterproof to prevent dripping, or the saturation of 

 the wearer's clothes. But this is the difficulty. Waterproof 

 composed of actual india-rubber has not only an objectionable 

 smell itself, but appears to impart it to the fish as to every- 

 thing else with which it comes in contact. I have accordingly 

 had a fish bag made by Mr. Farlow of a material that, both in 

 texture and a reasonable degree of ' waterproofedness,' fulfils the 

 conditions indicated. The material is a close woven, light- 

 brown-coloured canvas, of which also I usually have my leg- 

 gings made for field shooting, and its durability and wet-resist- 

 ing qualities first suggested the idea of its employment for 

 fishing bags. It has no smell of any kind. 



The engraving (fig. i) shows the bag or carrier in its closed- 

 up condition A being the strap, or rather 'webbing' (for 

 leather becomes both sodden and chilly when wetted) by 

 which it is suspended over the shoulder ; B is a light waterproof 

 (fastened by its own straps), which I find it a great conve- 

 nience to carry with me when fishing or shooting, attached 

 either to bag, basket, or cartridge carrier ; and c is an extra- 

 stout ' webbing,' so adjusted that when fastened in the posi- 

 tion shown in the engraving, the whole of the portion of the 

 bag which contains the fish is completely surrounded and sup- 

 ported by it. Fig. 2 is the bag with the extended ends open, 



