LINES AND REELS. 5 I 



somewhat expensive, and not always to be ob- 

 tained without some trouble, but it is essential in 

 many kinds of fishing, and will in the end be 

 found really much more economical than gut arti- 

 ficially fined. 



STAINING GUT. 



Stained or clouded gut is much to be preferred 

 to gut unstained, because it is less visible in the 

 water. Different fishermen affect different stains, 

 some preferring what is termed the "red-water 

 stain," others a neutral or slate tint, and others a 

 blue. The most important point in the staining 

 of gut is to remove the gloss, which catches the 

 light, and on a sunny day glitters through the 

 water in a manner that must produce no little 

 astonishment among the fish, and which would 

 probably equally astonish the angler himself could 

 he obtain a bird's-eye, or rather fish's-eye, view of 

 his line. 



In this cardinal point, however, all the ordinary 

 stains used by the tackle makers signally fail ; the 

 tints of colour produced being moreover by no 

 means the best obtainable. It is to be remem- 

 bered that the fish sees the gut usually from 

 below, and that therefore, especially in fly-fishing, 



