98 HOW TO DIVEST THE LINE OF CURLS. 



a greater variety to choose from by using four or five 

 flies in place of three ; but I will venture to predict that 

 the latter number will kill the greatest quantity of fish. 

 Besides, what can be more likely to arouse the suspicions 

 of an acute trout than a long formal procession of varie- 

 gated insects sailing complacently down stream in Indian 

 file, and ranked up with as much precision as a squadron 

 of ships of the line going into action ? I am not sure 

 but that if only a single popular fly were to be used upon 

 a small river, it would not be found to be more success- 

 ful than any greater number. 



A constant practice of my own, which I would en- 

 join others to adopt for their own comfort and conveni- 

 ence, is to steep the gut-line they intend using for the day 

 in water for a quarter of an hour or so, before they leave 

 home, then wind it tightly round the hat in order to 

 divest it of curls. A piece of india-rubber passed a few 

 times over the gut will also effect the same result. No 

 fish will ever attempt to rise until the line is straight, 

 smooth, and as entirely free from crumples as a gossamer 

 spider's thread. 



It is of the utmost importance, in the first place, to 

 be able to cast a long line with lightness and precision 

 over any particular spot ; and, in the second place, that 

 the flies should alight upon the surface of the water with 

 the lightness of the natural insect : the end fly being 

 first, the first dropper next, and the second or upper 

 dropper last. Scarcely any part of the line, excepting 

 that portion of the gut to which the flies are attached, 

 should ever touch the water. This requires a consider- 



