60 PRACTICAL FLY FISHING 



which the air is exhausted by a powerful rotary pump. 

 This enables the dressing to saturate thoroughly every 

 fibre of the silk so that it becomes a part of the line 

 itself and not merely a coating on the surface. After 

 being treated in this manner several times the lines are 

 cured and then carefully polished by hand so that they 

 have a full roundness with a finish that will not chip 

 or become sticky. These lines are very heavy, soft and 

 flexible with little tendency to kink and are the last 

 word in elegant fly fishing lines. They may be had 

 either level or single or double tapered. The usual 

 color is brown. 



Current catalog prices of English vacuum dressed 

 lines range from ten to twenty cents a yard; the 

 American made, about fifteen cents a yard. Prices 

 vary with the different sizes and tapered lines cost 

 more than the level. 



TAPERED AND LEVEL LINES 



The tapered line, as its title suggests, has a middle 

 of given size and gradually thins toward one end in 

 the single taper and both ends in the double tapered, 

 this being accomplished by leaving out a certain num- 

 ber of threads in the braiding process. Tapers vary; 

 one American manufacturer is making his standard 

 lines with 8 foot tapers and his tournament lines, very 

 popular with some anglers, with very long front taper 

 and with the middle or " belly " and the back taper 

 made short. 



Whether one should use a tapered or level line de- 



