66 FISHING TACKLE 



should be put into a cast. The finest strands should 

 be arranged so that they will come at the fly or bait 

 end. Soak the gut in a saucer of water for half an 

 hour and then proceed to link up the strands with a 

 fisherman's knot consisting of two sliding slip knots 

 as illustrated in the Frontispiece (Fig. i), only there 

 will be no dropper to insert between the nooses. Pull 

 the two knots up firmly and cut off the waste ends. 

 When the cast is of the required length it is usual to 

 have a loop at one end or sometimes both ends. The 

 loop knot may be made by a half-hitch formed on the 

 loop as shown on the Frontispiece (Fig. 3). 



All gut is liable to deterioration, and should be kept 

 away from the sun and not exposed to the light more 

 than is necessary. In a few months new gut may 

 lose its natural oil and become dry, brittle and quite 

 unusable, and it has hitherto had to be thrown away. 

 But there has recently come on the market a prepara- 

 tion which restores the natural oil to gut, and casts 

 or tackles kept completely immersed and shut away 

 from the light will thus retain their strength unim- 

 paired for years. They can be taken out of the stock 

 solution and used, but must be dried before being put 

 back. The preparation is called Servator, and is 

 purchasable in small bottles or in an extra large 

 stock size at quite a small cost. 



In its raw state gut is white, but for fishing it is 

 usually preferred tinted smoke-blue. A pale olive or 

 water-weed colour is much in favour, and sport 

 may be obtained by using olive-coloured casts when 

 others fishing with the usual coloured gut have failed. 

 A deep sea-green colour is very good for sea fishing. 

 Bottom fishers, when reddish mud or sediment has 

 discoloured the water, often fish with amber or pale 



