THE REEL, LINE AND FLIES 41 



best quality, quite satisfactory and fairly 

 serviceable. 



The length and caliber of the line should be 

 determined by the character of the fishing 

 always bearing in mind the fact that the line 

 must of necessity be suited to the rod, a matter 

 wherein the beginner is prone to go wrong and 

 concerning which he is apt to receive some very 

 bad advice from the man who angles chiefly 

 in streams of printer's ink. From the time 

 when the memory of man runneth not to the 

 contrary the " gossamer line " of the trout 

 fly-fisherman has been a favorite topic of the 

 producer of the "speckled-beauty" style of 

 literature the practical fly-fisherman knows 

 that there is nothing more absolutely futile 

 than the attempt to cast a line which in effect 

 is without weight. 



Very little thought will convince the reader 

 that only a line which indeed has weight will 

 carry well through the air when cast, and that 

 a very small caliber line simply will not do. I 

 shall not trouble to enlarge upon the matter. 

 Concisely, for the average fly-rod of nine to 

 ten feet the line should be of size F or E, the 

 latter for the nine and a half or ten-foot rod. 

 For the rod somewhat above the average in 

 weight, length or casting power size D may 



