44 FLOATING FLIES 



The leaders furnished by the tackle dealers 

 especially for dry-fly fishing are usually of very 

 good quality the best is none too good with 

 dropper loops, of course, and from six to nine 

 feet in length. The angler who elects to tie 

 his own leaders, a very simple matter and by 

 far the better plan, should purchase the very 

 best silk-worm gut for the purpose round, 

 hard and clear. It will be necessary to have 

 gut of different weights or caliber from heavy 

 to very fine, in order that the leader may be 

 tapered from about the size of the end of the 

 reel line to very fine undrawn gut nearest the 

 fly. Drawn gut was at one time extensively 

 used by dry-fly fishermen, but it is now gen- 

 erally recognized that fine undrawn gut is quite 

 as efficient and the additional strength gained 

 by its use is a distinct advantage. 



The tapered leader certainly aids materially 

 in fine work over clear, still water and shy 

 fish. I believe it was Henry P. Wells, the au- 

 thor of " Fly-Rods and Fly Tackle," a work 

 familiar to both American and English fly fish- 

 ermen, who stated that in his opinion the most 

 important factor for successful fly fishing was 

 to make invisible any connection between the 

 fly and the line, and the use of fine terminal 

 tackle tends to bring this about. Moreover, 



