THE TROUTER'S OUTFIT
The rod for stream fishing should weigh from three to six ounces and
measure in length from seven to nine feet. Split bamboo and lancewood
are two of the best rod materials. If you cannot afford a good split
bamboo do not buy a cheap one; choose a lancewood.
The line should be a small-sized waterproofed silk one. The reel, a
small common light rubber click, holding twenty-five or thirty-five
yards.
The landing net, used to take the fish from the water after being
hooked, should be made of cane with linen netting, and have no metal
about it. The handle should be about a foot long. Tie a string to the
handle, tie the string to a button on your coat under your chin, and
then toss the net over your back out of the way.
The creel, or fish basket, should be a willow one about the size of a
small hand satchel. This should have a leather strap, to be slung over
the right shoulder, allowing the creel to rest on the left hip.
The hat should be a soft brown or gray felt with two-inch brim. This
may be used as a cushion to sit down upon on rocks or in damp places.
The footwear may be either rubber boots, leather shoes, or rubber
wading trousers. If the water is warm, wear leather shoes, and have
nails put in the thick soles to keep your feet from slipping in swift
water and on slimy stones. If you choose rubber boots see that they
are of the light, thin, thigh-fitting sort and not the clumsy affairs
with straps attached.
The fly-book for use on the stream should have room for not more than
a dozen flies, with pockets for leaders, silk cord, small shears, and
other tools. A larger book for your general stock of flies and leaders
may be left at your rural lodgings with your tackle box and other
traps.
The leader, to which are attached the flies in use, should be of the
finest quality of single silk gut, and in length three feet. Two of
these attached make a cast, though I prefer a longer cast of leader.
The coat and general clothing should be of a dead-grass, gray, or
light brown color. Have plenty of pockets, and tie a string to nearly
everything you carry in them, so you cannot lose them if they fall
from your hands.
The flies--every known variety of trout fly, providing you order these
of the finest make.
Do not undertake to go trouting stintingly equipped, which is not
saying that you are to dress and act like a circus clown. But you must
be properly outfitted. Good carpenters make good houses, but their
work is better and more pleasant if they have good tools.
The tyro who is not fortunate enough to have the friendship of a
practical fisherman to whom he may apply for advice should read the
works on angling and ichthyology by Izaak Walton, Henry William
Herbert ("Frank Forester"), Seth Green, Charles Hallock. Wm. C.
Harris, Thaddeus Norris, Genio C. Scott. Frederick Mather, Robert
Roosevelt, G. Brown Goode, Kit Clarke, Dr. Jas. A. Henshall, Charles
Zibeon Southard, Dr. Edward Breck, Emlyn M. Gill. George M. L.
LaBranche, Louis Rhead, Eugene McCarthy, Dr. Henry van Dyke, David
Starr Jordan. Dr. Evermann, Prof. Baird, Tarlton H. Bean, Richard
Marston, Frederick E. Pond ("Will Wildwood"). Mary Orvis Marbury, A.
Nelson Cheney, Charles F. Orvis, Dr. Charles Frederick Holder, Perry
D. Frazer. Emerson Hough, Rowland E. Robinson, Isaac McLellan. Francis
Endicott, Dean Sage, Wm. C. Prime. Henry P. Wells, Judge Northrup,
John Harrington Keene, _et al._, and make a study of the catalogues of
the better class of sporting-goods houses.