HINTS TO DRY-FLY FISHERMEN. 129 



rubbed over with red deer fat from end to end, 

 to render it perfectly waterproof. The deer fat 

 makes the line float on the surface of the water, 

 and the Angler is enabled by its use to return and 

 consequently throw at least four yards more line 

 than without it. 



The "collar" or gut cast should be from one 

 and a half to three and a half yards in length, 

 and it must be remembered that, in casting against 

 the wind, the stronger it blows the shorter the 

 length of the gut should be. In throwing down 

 wind, the exact converse should be followed, for 

 the stronger the force of the wind, the longer should 

 be the gut cast. I nail cases the upper end should 

 be as stout as the point of the reel-line, and the 

 last three strands next to the fly should be as fine 

 as you dare to use, the intermediate portion forming 

 an even taper. Pay a fair price for the gut, and, 

 if you have the time, knot up the casts yourself, 

 first soaking the gut thoroughly in lukewarm water, 

 and using either of the knots described by my old 

 and valued friend Francis Francis in his " Book 

 on Angling," and engraved on the plate facing 

 page 97 in the sixth edition of that excellent work. 



One more word of advice. Having succeeded in 

 rising ^your fish, strike him ! By this I do not mean 

 that you should drive with all your might, and make 

 a regular smash, but that you should strike / *rom the 

 reel (that is, keeping your hand off the line so that 

 it can run freely) with a quick turn of the wrist, just 



K 



