56 DOUBTS AND DIFFICULTIES. 



holiday a year to devote to fishing, it will be 

 best to buy complete made up casts of nine 

 foot lengths, which should be sold each in a 

 separate transparent paper envelope on which 

 their exact description is entered such as * stout 

 to finest undrawn,' 'medium to 3x' et cet. 



Among the many appliances now offered to 

 anglers, a tin cast box containing loose felt or 

 flannel for damping purposes can be bought 

 for a shilling, and a couple of casts should be 

 put into it to soak for some hours as well as 

 several fine points. This soaking must not be 

 continuous day and night or the gut will 

 become too sodden and rotten. The cast kept 

 in reserve during the day in the box can be 

 taken out and allowed to dry on blotting paper 

 each evening. 



Soaked gut is not only more elastic and con- 

 sequently far stronger, but in that condition 

 alone is suitable for any kind of knotting, or 

 for the mounting of flies. So much has gut 

 improved of late years that it is now quite easy 

 to buy points of sixteen and eighteen inches 

 varying from those which are perfectly natural 

 namely have never been passed through the 

 drawer and have consequently a certain spiral 

 twist on them and arte strong enough to 

 manage a two and a half pounder among weeds, 

 to almost gossamer gut of 4 x and 6 x which 

 may be used for grayling in gin clear water on 

 a chalk bottom who need the wiles and acces- 

 sories of an angling artist to be attracted to 

 the surface. 



