8 HINTS FOR BEGINNERS. 



the most handy and workable. It may safely 

 be said that little is lost by having the upper 

 strands of gut fairly thick. It assists accurate 

 throwing and minimises tangling. It lasts 

 double as long; and moreover should a break 

 occur this usually means only the two finer 

 strands leaving six feet of the original to carry 

 on with. For upstream fishing with a wet fly 

 it is as well to affix a ' dropper ' which is put 

 on some two or three feet from the end of the 

 cast. An ordinary gut-tied fly can be used for 

 this purpose and looped on just above a knot 

 so as to stand out some three inches at right 

 angles to the cast. For tail fly eyed hooks 

 should be used as they alone will stand the 

 constant flicking to which they are subjected. 



Without using clear illustrations and far 

 clearer language than I am master of it is well 

 nigh useless to touch upon the matter of knots. 

 A visit to an angling friend will effect more 

 than any explanation can do, and if the 

 various knots are first tied in stout string 

 thfough a loop made out of a hairpin their 

 power of resistance and their general efficiency 

 are far more easily seen and understood than 

 if tied in fine gut through the tiny eye of a 

 hook. Some men are born with a natural 

 aptitude for knots. Besides being able to tie 

 them by feel and consequently in the dusk they 

 are able to invent knots of their own. Others 

 are either clumsy or resent the trouble involved 

 and will even have entire casts made up by 

 tackle makers before starting off on an angling 



