TEENT FISHING. 35 



called the " fisher's " knot ; it is very easily made. At the 

 end of the gut you, as it were, tie a single knot without 

 drawing it tight ; you then take another length of gut, and 

 put one end through the small loop thus made on the other 

 piece, and then the straight piece that you have just put 

 through you put round the other, and tie a single knot the 

 same as before ; both knots can then be drawn tight, and 

 pulled together. The short ends should then be clipped off, all 

 except about the eighth of an inch or so. This is a capital 

 knot, and will be found to be all that is required in tackle- 

 making, it cannot pull asunder, it will break sooner than 

 come undone. 



When you make your tackle be sure and have the stoutest 

 lengths of gut for the top, and the finest for the bottom 

 length whereto the hook is whipped. Tie then a loop on the 

 topmost piece of gut for the line to be fastened to, and now 

 you want a hook. I think the best are the straight round 

 bend bright Carlisle hooks. You will require an assortment, 

 in sizes from four to twelve, to suit the various fish and tackle. 

 These hooks must be whipped to the gut with slightly waxed 

 silk. Some anglers use shoemaker's wax for this purpose, 

 but I don't like it, for no matter what colour your silk is, the 

 shoemaker's wax turns it nearly black, and when your hook 

 is whipped on, it looks as though it were put on with dark 

 silk, and a dark whipping does not look well with a white 

 bait. 



Drapers sell small spools of fine silk in different colours, 

 at one penny a spool. I should recommend the angler to 

 buy four of these different coloured silks, white, pink, 

 yellow, and green ; the white for paste, pith, &c., the pink 

 for worms, the yellow for maggots or gentles, &c., and the 

 green in case you should meet with some fish that are vege- 

 tarians; but more of this anon as I proceed with the 

 different sorts of fish. For these different coloured silks you 

 will, of course, require some colourless wax, and a very 

 useful, hard, and tenacious wax may be made for a trifle 

 in this wise : Take two ounces of the best resin and one 

 quarter of an ounce of beeswax, simmer them together in a 

 small pipkin for ten minutes ; then add one quarter of an 



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