58 PRACTICAL FLY FISHING 



reel box which costs about a dollar. Thus stored a 

 reel is always in good order and less likely to be broken 

 when traveling. 



THE LINE 



EVOLUTION 



Early fly fishermen used lines of twisted and braided 

 horse hair and Dame Berners gives explicit directions 

 for selecting, coloring and making a line of this ma- 

 terial. Later silk was mixed with hair to reduce its 

 roughness. Finally, when manufacturers learned to 

 braid silk by machinery, hair was eliminated entirely as 

 a line material. I have one of these old braided hair 

 lines, and although of too large diameter to render 

 through the guides of a modern rod, I tried it once 

 and satisfied myself that one can cast with it I pre- 

 fer the modern lines. 



OILED LINES 



Early braided silk lines were filled with linseed, or 

 some other oil, to give them weight and to make them 

 waterproof. Some anglers still use the oiled lines 

 but mainly for economy as they are inferior to the 

 enameled. 



HARD ENAMELED LINES 



I believe the process of enameling a line is of Ameri- 

 can origin ; anyway American hard enameled lines were 

 for many years the world's standard of excellence. 



