Leaders. 129 



course if it gather momentum, and thus throw its weight 

 and velocity suddenly upon a leader, the momentary 

 strain might be much greater. It is also quite another 

 thing to drag a struggling fish through the water against 

 his utmost effort, from merely holding him at a fixed 

 distance. It is quite true that the strain imposed by a 

 spring-balance is an even and steady pull, most favorable 

 to the endurance of the gut ; and also that in actual use, 

 in a moment of inattention on the part of the angler, 

 strains of a different and more sudden nature may be en- 

 countered. But still I believe that a leader that will 

 stand a spring-balance pull of four and a half to five 

 pounds, has ample reserve to meet this. A thin leader 

 is a very decided advantage, and nothing heavier than 

 gut adequate to meet a reasonable margin for deteriora- 

 tion by lapse of time and wear, added to the power of 

 the fish against which it is to be employed, should be 

 used. 



The thickness of leaders habitually used at the Range- 

 ly Lakes is simply preposterous. Heavier would not be 

 selected for a forty-pound salmon. 



Among other reasons, these conclusions rest partly on 

 the following : 



In June, 1883, with some other anglers I was in camp 

 in the Maine woods. The conversation turned on this 

 subject, and having seen the experiment tried, I said 

 that the strain of any trout could not by possibility 

 much exceed a pound. This statement was regarded by 

 some with so much surprise, that a trial was suggested. 

 A ten-foot hexagonal split-bamboo rod of my own make, 

 and quite stiff for a fly-rod, was used. Drawing with 

 this upon a spring-balance following up the bend of the 

 rod as a fish would do, with the hand holding the rod 

 9 



