SALMON FISHING IN THE NOTTINGHAM STYLE. 133 



member that before he ties the lengths together he should 

 steep them at least half an hour in lukewarm water, so as to 

 render them pliable, and the knots come together firm and 

 strong. In tying the lengths together, the knot as described 

 in Chapter II. will be found all that is required. Although 

 some anglers object to salmon tackle being tied with this 

 knot, they prefer another sort of double knot that is tied 

 after this fashion : lay the two ends of two separate pieces 

 of gut together till they overlap one another about a couple 

 of inches, with the other ends pointing in opposite directions ; 

 a single knot is then tied with the two overlapping ends in 

 the centre, but it is not drawn tight, but left as a sort of 

 small ring or eye ; then take the long length and the short 

 one that are on the right side of this eye and pass them 

 both through again from the opposite side, and then draw 

 tight. This is a very sound and secure knot, but it looks much 

 more chimsy than the other. These knots will be all the better 

 if the ends are not cut close off, but about a quarter of an inch 

 left at each side, and bound neatly and closely with a bit of 

 well-waxed silk each side the knot ; about four feet will be 

 the proper length for this tackle. And now the angler will 

 want some hooks, and the very best in my opinion will be 

 the round bent, bright Carlisle, and the best size for the 

 bottom one will be a No. 2, and there should be a No. 4 as a 

 lip hook, tied so that they will be about two inches apart 

 from bend to bend ; these hooks should be whipped on with 

 thin but strong silk, waxed with shoemaker's wax, and as 

 near up to the bend as possible, or rather, I might say, till 

 the whipping is level with the barb, taking care, however, 

 that the whipping should be done as closely and as strongly 

 as possible ; then the angler should get a pinch of vermillion 

 and mix it with two drops of the spirit varnish described in 

 Chapter II., and with a small camel's hair brush just touch 

 the whipping over with it, and this will make the hook 

 whippings the same colour as the worms you use for bait, 

 besides protecting the lappings, and giving them a good and 

 glossy finish ; the split shots can be added when the angler 

 gets to the riverside to use it. I think I have now made it 

 pretty clear to the novice as to the tackle required for 



