24 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 



appearance of the line. There is no amusement that I wot 

 of in which it is so requisite for its lover to know how to 

 make use of his hands and ingenuity. Bad luck, or what- 

 ever you choose to call it, may, before an hour's fishing be 

 done, reduce you to the alternative of either ceasing work 

 or manufacturing out of broken fragments a new casting- 

 line. Very possibly this is caused by the fish being more 

 than usually on the feed. How disagreeable to be com- 

 pelled at such a time to halt ! better far to spend ten min- 

 utes with the dry end of gut in your mouth, the more rap- 

 idly to render the hairs fit for knotting, and to know how 

 to put them together afterward, than be obliged to cease. 



The rings upon your rod should be large and not too nu- 

 merous ; five are sufficient for the lower joints, and about 

 five more for the tip, supposing it to be a rod thirteen feet 

 in length, and in three pieces. In America I lately saw 

 rods ringed on both sides, so that, if after unusual hard 

 work and constant use, a tendency to warp was evinced, 

 you altered your reel to the reverse side and thus counter- 

 acted it. However, the better plan, I should say, would be 

 to use the reverse sides day about. The only objection to 

 this double arrangement of rings is additional weight, but 

 that must be very trifling. 



Having now described the rod, the reel, the line, and the 

 cast, I approach a subject that I hesitate to touch, viz., fly- 

 tying, for I do not think that any one can become an expert 

 but through constant practice, after having received nu- 

 merous elementary lessons from an adept. I believe I can 

 tie a fair fly ; but how long do you suppose it was before 

 I reached my present excellence ? Years ; and even now 

 I discover wrinkles and new methods of which I was not 

 previously aware; however, one rule may be laid down: 

 never to take a turn of the silk round your hook without 

 purpose, or without giving it sufficient strength to keep it 



