42 SALMON AND TROUT. 
after undergoing this process is not, however, so clean and 
transparent as the undoctored material, and though it looks 
beautifully fine—and, indeed, is so—it commonly frays and 
wears out very rapidly when exposed to moisture or friction of 
any sort. Drawn gut is, however, extensively used for many of 
the finer sorts of fishing, both with fly and bait. For my own 
part I prefer to pay almost any price, so to speak, for the natural 
gut whenever it can be obtained of the requisite fineness. This, 
however, is not always. 
Knotting.—There is a kind of ‘endless’ knot with which 
the casting lines prepared in some tackle shops are joined that 
seems for ordinary purposes to be about perfection ; but how 
this knot is tied is a trade secret which I have failed to find 
out. Decidedly the best as well as the simplest knot ‘ open to 
the public,’ and one which is equally applicable to the finest 
and the strongest gut, is what is known as the single (and 
double) fisherman’s knot (sometimes called ‘water knot’), 
varied in the case of salmon gut, for heavy work, in the way 
described presently. 
FIG, 1.—SINGLE FISHERMAN’S KNOT. 
The gut having been thoroughly well soaked beforehand 
(in tepid water best)—which is, of course, a séze gud non in all 
gut knottings—the two ends of gut, a, A, are laid parallel to 
each other, being held in that position between the first finger 
and thumb of the left hand in the position in which they are to 
be joined. A half-hitch knot, B, 8, is then made by the right 
hand with the end of each strand alternately round the strand 
of the other, and each separately drawn tight, the two separate 
halves of the knot being finally drawn closely together and the 
ends cut off. 
It has been pointed out that the single fisherman’s knot— 
varied as I have described in the case of salmon lines--is all 
