306 Book of the Black Bass. 



line even here to be employed in preference. Eaw silk lines 

 require tlie greatest care to preserve their usefulness. They 

 should be carefully dried after use, as soon thereafter as 

 possible, for without this caution they soon become weak 

 and rotten. And, moreover, a reel-line, for bait-fishing, 

 should never be waterproofed with any preparation that in- 

 creases its caliber or decreases its pliability, for this can 

 only be done with great detriment to the line, as regards 

 casting. 



Xext best to the raw silk line is the braided boiled silk 

 line, or, as sometimes called, the dressed silk line. This is 

 a good line when plaited hard and closely, but most of 

 them are too loosely braided, in which case they absorb 

 water quite freely, which develops an annoying propensity 



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of clinging to the rod in casting, and interferes somewhat 

 with the free rendering of the line. They are made of 

 good stock, however, and are quite strong, an4 nicely 

 tinted. The boiled silk line should be as well cared for, 

 and as carefully dried, after use, as the raw silk line, and 

 for the same reasons. 



The braided linen line is a very good one, in one respect 

 better than the silk, being quite hard and closely plaited, 

 but the caliber is too large. The smallest size now made 

 is too great for a reel-line for black bass .bait-fishing. 

 Where the bass run very large, however, as in lake fishing, 

 or in the extreme south, the smallest size may be employed 

 with satisfaction. It will last longer than the silk line. 



