FASTENING ON HOOKS. 63 



soaked with water) on their rods, in which wet state, 

 if they long continue, they are apt to mildew and 

 rot. Every line, immediately after being used, should 

 be run off from the reel and laid out freely, or stretch- 

 ed on pegs to dry. Should they have been lying by 

 for any length of time, they should be thoroughly 

 examined and tried in every part before using. Lines 

 will chafe and fray out by constant wear, and many 

 large fish are often lost by carelessness in these small 

 but important matters. 



To TIE A HOOK TO A GUT OR LINE. Prepare, by 

 waxing with shoemaker's wax, a piece of strong silk 

 or thread ; take your hook in your left hand between 

 your thumb and forefinger, about as high up as the 

 point of the barb or a little higher, as you may fancy; 

 place the end of your silk under your thumb, take 

 three or four random but firm turns around the shank 

 of the hook until you reach the end (for the purpose 

 of preventing the gut being cut by the hook, and 

 moreover that your gut may stick firmly without the 

 possibility of coming off;) now lay your gut or line 

 (the inside of the hook, up) on to this winding, holding 

 it with the end of the thumb, and commence whip- 

 ping it around firmly and closely, occasionally press- 

 ing the turns to keep them even; continue this ope- 

 ration until you get within three or four turns of the 

 finishing point ; in order to fasten firmly give three 

 loose turns, then insert the end of your silk under 

 them, and drawing it through, you have a secure 

 fastening, called the hidden knot. Another method 



