Ff SUING GENERALITIES 105 



Whether the hooks have the eyes turned up, or 

 down, or straight, does not seem to matter much, and 

 is to a large extent a subject of personal predilection. 



The process of tying an eyed fly to the casting 

 line is both simple and rapid. There are several ways 

 of doing this, but the most effective as well as the 

 simplest seems to me to be the following : After the 

 casting line has been attached to the reel line, slip its 

 end through the eye of the hook, then form a loop of 

 the end of the casting line, and tie a single knot 

 round the cast itself. 



If this is carefully done, not more than half an 

 inch of the casting line need be cut off and wasted. 

 The next tiling is to push the slip-loop thus made 

 back oi'cr the fly, taking care the wings are not 

 damaged in the process ; then gently pull and jam 

 the knot tight into the eye. With a little practice, 

 and with properly soaked gut, this can be done with 

 hardly any trouble, and much speed. 



The various sizes of hooks are shown in fig. 7, 

 with their descriptive numbers, on the scale usually 

 accepted. 



There are many small additions to an angler's 

 equipment which may be mentioned, not perhaps 

 as ' necessaries,' but as being useful on occasions. 

 l''or instance, in these days most dry-fly fishermui 



