Practical Dry-Fly Fishing 



whether this necessary article should 

 be tapered or not, and also as to the 

 exact length that should be used. The 

 beginner may study all these things 

 out on the streams, and be guided both 

 by his own experience and that of ex- 

 pert anglers whom he may meet. It 

 is safe to say that a large majority of 

 dry-fly anglers both in England and 

 America use a tapered leader nine feet 

 long, and dry-fly leaders are commonly 

 listed in this way in nearly all cata- 

 logues. It is true that a long, light 

 leader is difficult to manage against a 

 strong head- wind, and in these weather 

 conditions a leader of six feet might 

 be better. The conventional dry-fly 

 leader is tapered, and is rather coarse 

 at the line end, tapering down from 

 fine drawn gut to the finest undrawn at 

 the end to which the fly is tied. Per- 

 sonally I prefer the fine undrawn gut 



[34] 



