40 FLOATING FLIES 



the term may be used as generally defining the 

 very best line for the purpose of the fly-caster 

 with either wet or floating flies. In order to 

 cast well the line must possess weight; at the 

 same time it must be flexible without flimsi- 

 ness, and smooth. These requirements are 

 fully answered by the enameled line, and by 

 no other. 



At the present time it is generally believed 

 by experienced anglers that the soft-enameled, 

 vacuum-dressed line of English manufacture is 

 the superior of all lines for dry fly casting and 

 fishing. Lines of this character are repeat- 

 edly filled with pure, boiled linseed oil under 

 the exhausted receiver of an air pump, being 

 dried out after each filling in an oven heated to 

 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and subsequently 

 dressed down by hand. The ordinary " enam- 

 eled " line is dressed only superficially. Mani- 

 festly the vacuum-dressed line is the more ser- 

 viceable; and the combination of weight, flexi- 

 bility, smoothness, and perfect action in cast- 

 ing found in this line is difficult to surpass. 

 The vacuum-dressed line is necessarily some- 

 what expensive, and the angler who does not 

 care to invest too heavily in what may pos- 

 sibly be merely an experimental outfit will find 

 the ordinary enameled or varnished line, in the 



