The Outfit — Leaders. 55 



largest salmon when backed by a good rod well handled, 

 yet when a judicious fisb takes a turn of the line around 

 a Tock or snag, and the rod is thus neutralized, it is this 

 part that usually gives way and wrecks our hopes. 



Ifo excellence of, or lavish expense bestowed on any 

 other part of the tackle will make good a defect here. 

 At best its strength is inferior to some of the exigencies 

 of its use, and therefore the most assiduous care should 

 be taken that it be not unnecessarily deficient in this 

 respect. 



To accurately judge the quality of gut in the shop is as 

 difficult as to accurately judge the quality of a horse in 

 the jockey's stable. When the hank is opened, and each 

 strand is drawn through the fingers and separately sub- 

 mitted to inspection, then it is easier. 



The first requisite in selecting gut for salmon-fishing is 

 roundness; the second is uniformity in diameter from end 

 to end; third is thickness; the fourth is length; the fifth 

 is elasticity or springiness when bent; and the sixth a 

 uniform glassy transparency untinged with yellow. The 

 order indicates the relative value of these characteristics. 

 Perfect roundness is worth more than all the others put 

 together — indeed its absence is a defect that no excess of 

 other merit can make good. The color used to be a more 

 reliable guide than it is now, when chemical have so 

 largely superseded mechanical means in cleaning and 

 bleaching the gut. 



No expert pretends to judge the quality of gut except 

 with the aid of a strong light. 



The eye must be in constant training, and as keen to 

 detect the slight variations of appearance as that of a 

 dyer. Indeed there is no other article of which the 



