Trout Lines and Their Care 
Winter 
T HE line that is used today for 
fly-fishing is known to the trade, 
and described in the catalogs as 
an oil-dressed line”; sometimes the 
the term “vacuum” is added to this 
description. The term “enameled line” 
means a totally different type of line, a 
type, in fact, that has been discarded 
for years by those who know what is 
the best. The “oil-dressed” line should 
be made of pure silk entirely, and the 
composition of the dressing medium 
should consist of pure boiled linseed oil 
and nothing else. A final coating, or 
finish, of a varnish like dope, while 
producing a good-looking line for trade 
purposes, spoils the line and greatly re¬ 
duces its life. 
A man who makes his living by 
dressing lines cannot be blamed if he 
does not rush into print and tell the 
world just how to get the best results. 
Therefore, what little is known about 
line dressing is the result of investi¬ 
gations by amateur line dressers. 
In my early days lines made of a 
mixture of hair and silk were still in 
use. Enameled lines were rapidly dis¬ 
placing them, but the old silk and hair 
undressed line was still to be met with 
occasionally at the river side. 
The chief fault of the enameled line 
was that it had a hard surface or 
crust; when this surface became crack¬ 
ed, moisture would penetrate and in 
time the line would become quite rotten 
at this spot. 
Mr. Halford gives to Mr. Deller, of 
Eaton & Deller, the credit for the 
original experiments that finally led to 
the use of pure boiled linseed oil as a 
dressing medium for silk lines. 
It is hardly necessary to repeat the 
advice given by Mr. H. P. Wells, in his 
book, “Fly Rods & Fly Tackle” (N. Y. 
1885), against the use of an undressed 
silk line for fly casting; we have ar¬ 
rived at a stage where nothing but a 
dressed silk line is considered with re¬ 
lation to fly-fishing. 
Now as to the advantages of a 
tapered line. If most of our fly-fish¬ 
ing will be on comparatively small 
streams, where a long cast will be an 
exceptional occurence, I do not advise 
the extra expense of a tapered line; 
but, if we are fortunate enough to be 
so placed that we have fair-sized 
streams or rivers at our command, 
where casts of good length are com¬ 
mon then, especially if we fish with 
the dry fly, I strongly advise the use 
of a tapered line. The double taper, 
Is the Time to Overhaul Your 
By R. L. MONTAGU 
DRYER IN POSITION 
AT THE END OF 
SECOND JOINT. 
BRACKET. 
TOP VIEW 
SHOWING HOW 
SIDE WIRES ARE; 
INSERTED IN, 
THE AXLE. 
A FOLDING POCKET DRYER 
i. e., a line that tapers at both ends 
from the middle is an advantage be¬ 
cause, when the taper is worn off one 
end, the line can be reversed on the 
reel, and we shall have practically a 
new line once more, provided always 
that we have taken good care of the 
line in the meantime. 
I T is important to get a line that fits 
the rod properly. When the line is 
of sufficient weight to properly develop 
the casting abilities of the rod, we 
shall find that the rod and line work 
so sweetly together that the effort of 
casting is reduced to a minimum; in 
fact, the rod almost seems to cast the 
line itself with very little assistance 
from the angler. 
If the line is too heavy for the rod, 
we shall notice a slight drag when we 
are making the forward stroke of the 
cast and the rod will feel, in the hands 
of the experienced, as though there 
was a slight want of backbone in its 
middle section; i. e., it feels as though 
it was bending a little too much. This 
is actually what is happening, and if 
the use of a line that is too heavy is 
persisted in, the rod will lose a lot of 
its natural resiliency and become in 
time that which Mr. La Branche 
terms a “weeping” rod. 
Mr. J. J. Hardy believes that if such 
a rod is given a long rest it will even¬ 
tually regain, to a great extent, its 
lost powers. 
On the other hand, if we equip the 
rod with a line that is not of sufficient 
Tackle 
weight we shall do just as much dam¬ 
age to the rod as if the line was too 
heavy. 
Some may doubt the foregoing state¬ 
ment, but let us stop and consider just 
exactly what happens when we use a 
light line. 
In order to cast a line that is too 
light for the rod, considerably more 
force will be put into the casting 
stroke than if we were using a line 
that suited the rod. Now this extra 
energy has to be absorbed by some¬ 
thing; the line being lighter and of¬ 
fering less frictional resistance to the 
surrounding air, does not absorb this 
surplus energy; therefore it is obvious 
that it is taken up by the rod; that is 
to say, the rod is subjected to a 
greater strain when using too light a 
line than when casting with a line of 
the proper weight. This extra strain 
will in time produce a crankiness in 
the rod that will eventually ruin it. 
What has already been said might 
lead the novice to think that the selec¬ 
tion of the correct weight of line is a 
very complex proceeding. Such is not 
really the case; if the novice when 
ordering a new rod will tell his rod 
maker to furnish a line to fit the rod 
he will in the great majority of cases 
obtain the right line. As he grows 
older, his own experience will enable 
him to be his own judge in this matter. 
r J'HE theory of the oil dressing of 
lines consists of thoroughly im¬ 
pregnating the line with pure boiled 
linseed oil—but no dryers or size is to 
be put in the oil. A number of soak- 
ings or impregnations take place, with 
drying periods between, and the sur¬ 
face is obtained by final polishings. 
It is a lengthy process and some¬ 
what costly; the professional line 
dressers, I believe, use heat to hasten 
the drying process, and sometimes in¬ 
troduce something besides pure oil in 
the dressing moisture. 
My experience with professional 
lines in the past has been that lines of 
certain years might be called vintage 
years; these lines were excellent; but 
a line purchased the following year 
from the same manufacturer might be 
a very different thing. Of late years, 
however, I am told that these difficul¬ 
ties have been successfully overcome. 
The amateur dresser of lines is a 
benefactor to mankind; he dresses a 
few lines as a hobby, and his final 
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