THE GAME FISHES OF THE WOELD 



one liundred. feet of line is sufficient for all purposes, and half or a 

 third is often quite enough. 



I am going into these matters not so much to tell the would- 

 be angler what he should have to go bass fishing, as he already 

 knows, and there are books on the subject without number ; 

 but the possession of fine tackle is half the game, and always a 

 compensation and delight. 



Volumes have been written on flies by men who had no 

 thought of the fish to be caught with them. I have, just at this 

 point, received a letter from Mr. Graham- White, inviting me to 

 fish the Wye with him the next time I am in England ; but the 

 real invitation was from the angler's heart, two beautiful salmon 

 flies of his own making enclosed. I have never seen or heard of 

 a man who could explaia the philosophy, or madness, of it, how a 

 little bimch of feathers, or an old rod or an old book of flies can 

 charm and delight men who are fed ordinarily on the serious things 

 of life. But they do, and I confess so completely to the weakness 

 that I keep a fly book not far from my hand ; as my old friend, 

 Dr. Eobert Burdette says, it is ' good medicine.' There is a 

 special punishment (you will find it in your Dante) for the man 

 who sells you poor leaders (traces). They should be from 

 three to six feet long. I was so fortunate to meet a gentleman 

 in Glasgow who had a ' trace factory ' somewhere in Spain. It 

 should stand a test of two pounds, abcording to Henshall, who 

 prefers the natural line. The leaders, of course, you keep be- 

 tween damp pads when fishing ; and the one you use should be 

 soaked and made perfectly pliable. In hooks and other details, 

 it is a matter of taste; but I confess to a weakness for the 

 O'Shaughnessey shape, a hook not larger than a number four or 

 six. The hooks may be eyed, a most convenient arrangement, 

 and as for knots, every angler has his^own with other possessions. 



The one great and fundamental question in angling is the fly. 

 I fancy Oppian knew all about it ; as least some one did, as the 

 oldest anglers of whom we know anything, seem to have inherited 

 their knowledge from some one else. Our own Walton filched 

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