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Show opinion, with flu? proviso, is as a rule well founded. If vou know the water on which vou mean to fish, or if you have some one who knows it to advise you, the chance are that you will not alter your cast of two or three flies during the day. It all depends de-pends on what the fish will take. I have Been men work through the content of a most gorgeous fly book one of those fly books which merely to see is to want to steal without catching, and 1 uave rav-self rav-self caught 27 pounds of trout with one fly. It was a curious, nondescript kind of a thing, something like a brown hackle, with two tails of peacock stringers worked Into it; yet the other two flies in the cast a Palmer and a Ked Ibis were let severely alone, while "the bug," as I called it, was fairly chewed to flinders. Speaking of the bug reminds me of the importance of tying one's own flies. The materials necessary to dub up a fly which will be something like that which the fish are taking can be carried in an ordinary tin tobacco box. You want black, brown, gray, green, red and white silk, about three yurds of each. To these add bits of all the colored feathers you can And, and a small stick of black sealing wax completes the list. The best way to learn to tie flica is to tie them. Of course the first you make will whip to pieces in short order, but cxperientiu docet in this as in other things, uml I know of no more fascinating work. Not only can you get a good book together in time, but you can always make up the sort of fly the fish want. It is amazing how blind fish can be to the merits of flies, and with what absolute Bcorn they can trout the beautiful array which looked so tempting before one started out. There are men who seem to think that fishing with natural bait is a sin alongside of which breach of trust is Innocent. I cannot say that I agree with them. I prefer pre-fer to fish with artificial flies If the fish will take them, but when I go fishing I want to catch fish. So if I find that tho fish will not rise to my flies I am satisfied to give them grasshoppers or minnows or worms or anything else they see fit to ask. The greater part of the fun comes after the fish is hooked in the play, and as my object is always to get my hook into that Hull's mouth I cannot say I am particular as to how this is done. This may not be sport, but it results pleasantly enough when one is landing the fish and looking at the beauty, first in tho creel and afterward ou the table. You can use just as delicate tackle, and tho skill necessary is just as great, while if your conscience troubles you you can stand on tho lawn and whip the grass for an hour in order to even things up. Provide yourself then with a dozen and a half hooks on goal gut. The sizes will bo governed by the fish you wish to catch, but the average cos; will bo about $1.25. Iiuy three swi' els, 4S cents; 6 cents' worth of shot, which you split up, and at least one good spoo:i for trolling, if you need It; cost 81. Thitt will kavo you $1.05 to be spent on nrtMclal files. Not very much, but at the tumo time enough, for with It yon enn get; a down, and if these are bought wit h reference to tho water you Intend In-tend to fish they will give you plenty of sport. If you are going out for fly fishing only j'ou will not need the spoon or the swivels, which will give you another dozen flies. As to what flies to got it Is Impossible Impossi-ble to give general directions worth following. follow-ing. Ordinarily speaking, brown hackles, Palmer's Red Ibis, black hacklo, moths and Professors should bo found in every book. Hut tho flies which are the most killing In tho waters of tho lower St. Lawrence are as dirt in tho eyes of the California trout, and this rule holds all over the country. Suit the flies to th water, or rather the fish in it, and you will bo all right. For tho $15 npont. in this way you will have a good working outfit, with which you can get lots of sport nnd mayhap pretty heavy baskets, or rather bags. Noxt year if you can put 815 more into your fishing things you can have un outfit which will bo fairly complete. ALFHED Balcii. POINTS ASTO TACKLE. Alfred Raich Writes a Letter of Interest to the Man of Pisoatorial Inclinations, In-clinations, IT'S NICE TO HAVE PROPER TACKLE But if You Haven't a Lot of Money You Must Begin Modestly and Grow to It. Special Correspondence. ew York, Aug. 25. Just as there are few men who do not care for fishing or shooting, or both, so to those who love the former no delight is greater than that of overhauling tackle and the hundred and one things that the lugeniiity of the manufacturers manu-facturers has produced, which, iudced.of ten wile away from us dollars which can be illy spared. There be those who denounce tho expensive outfits and who speak in. terms of high praise of the home made rod, which once was good enough for us, nud with which wo certainly did contrive to have great s)ort. Of these carping cynics, who would have us believe the tackle of our boyhood the test of all tackle, I am not one. I never made a rod in my life which was as good as that which I own now, nnd although I couid and can, I believe make my huir line, using the three or four quills, it would he folly were I to claim the result as well worth having as a manufactured manu-factured line. I never made a reel; my line was fastened to tho butt of my fishing poln, and the polo was strong enough to simply lift tho fish out of the water. But in truth 1 like the present way hotter, and I think, there is more fun to be obtained from playing play-ing the fish, from pitting my skill aguiust his struggles, tftim ever there wan when my strength simply overcame his weight. Modern outfits increase the pleasure of tho uport, and if they cost more the additional money may be safely set down to balance the greater fun. If a man have $150 to $200 in his pocket which he can afford to spend on a fishing outfit then he is to bo honestly enviod. l''or him are the most beautiful rods triumphs tri-umphs of art, with the strength of steel and thnt delicacy of play which murks the waving grain. For him aro reels and lines and leaders, flies which might be claimed As kindred hy their living prototypes, com-fortablo com-fortablo creels nnd scales which rudely do-Htroy do-Htroy many pleasant dreams of weights. . He can rig himself up in clothes which will make him look like a fisherman, oven if he catch no fish, clothes that will comfort com-fort him, and ho can wear boots that will before the day is over make him wish ho had left them behind. And above all he can luxuriate In his fly book. It matters llttlo that ho will not uso one fly In ten the pleasure of looking at them will still be his. For this sum the shop is open to him. But if a man hns only $15 to spend he must toko duo thought to himself before be spends it, or, of a truth, he will not have that which he will require. Many of us cannot afford much more than this, and our fishing outfits must grow from year to year. I am not certain that this is, after all, .'the poorest way of getting them. Before you buy you think carefully, and when you buy you know exactly what the thing bought will do for you, There is the full pleasure of anticipation, there is tho planning plan-ning and contriving beforehand which Is so delightful. And theu, too, ufter tho purchase pur-chase you take far more pleasure lu it than you would othorwiso. The reel which you have looked at once a mouth for a year before be-fore you could afford to buy it clicks fur more musically when bought than it would had you uover neea it before becoming Its owner. The best way for the maa who has but little money to put out Is to buy a good rod to begin with, suy at an expense of $10, and content himself during the first year with the best he can afford to get of other things, Tho second year he can take In a good reol, nnd as tho seasons como und go gradually mipply himself with what ho needs. In this way his outfit will be of the best, although al-though it will not be complete for gome years. But many a man wants to know what ho can do tins year without much reference refer-ence to next, and the answer to the question ques-tion is not an cusy one to give. Tho list of things he sliould have must be weeded until un-til only thoso that aro necessary remain. First he must buy a rod and these vury In price from a quarter of a dollar to any Bum we miiy bo willing to pay. By universal uni-versal consent tho split bamboo rods are tho bost now made; but I should like to impress on my reader that a good lance- ( wood rod Is much better than a poor bamboo. bam-boo. In the days when split bamboo was unknown hinccwood furnished rods which were able to stand almost any strain and to do good work under almost any circum-atnnccs, circum-atnnccs, and although the fashion bus now run to the bamboo the lancewood Is ns good us ever. Being no longer fashionable it can be bought for less money, and $5 is enough to purchase a fairly good ono. Nicklo guide rings aud ferrules are l)est because be-cause they will not rust, but brass are just as good it you will tuko tho trouble to keop them clean and well oiled. Kemcmber thnt a rod must be looked after if you wish to get any sorvlco f rom it. It should always lie wiped after a day's sport and oiled carefully. Do net be persuaded into buying one of these so called "truuk" rods. They are riade in short pieces to go Into trunks, and t hey generally break. Every time a ferrule la put into a rod the rod Is weakened, for, as there is no spring to a ferrule, it makes "a dead point." The shorter the pieces tho more dead pol nts und tho greater liability to a breaking strain. If you glvo $5 for your rod for the first year a wooden reel, one of those or-dinurily or-dinurily called bass reels, should he good enough. These are cheap. Tho best may ! be bought for $1.80; nnd they are really thoroughly well made and answer tho purpose pur-pose admirably. Of course in your second year you may rIvo $7.50 to $10 for a multiplying mul-tiplying reel, which will give you ten or fifteen years of service if properly cared for. Assuming, then, that you pay $1.25 for the reol tho next thing to buy ig tho . line. In this economy is out of place; tho best line is the cheapest. If you purchase 100 yards and less would be insufficient for trout fishing of braided silk you will pay about $4. This leaves a balance of $4.50 out of $15, which is little enough when one thinks of what has yet to be bought. It is far too small to allow the purchase of a creel. In place of this make good strong bag of ticking or Joan, with wide strap of the same stuff, doubled and thoroughly sewn, by which you carry it. This bag will carry your fish for you, and if washed sometimes will not be olTeusive. Leaders must be of the best. You will need at least two singles, each two yards long, and these will cost thirty centa. You should nlso have at least one leader of double dou-ble gut, two yards long, costing forty cents. In choosing gut examine it carefully, and ' see that it is round or nearly so. If it is frayed and ragged reject it at once. The color does not have much influence on the strength that ever I could see, although some men will not use anything except clouded stock, and others want it all clear. When it comes to selecting artificial flies there is literally no end to the advice you can get if you will only listen. Some men believe that there is little use in going out after trout or black bass with less than five dozen flies in your book, while others hold that if you know the water half a dozen are amply sufficient. This latter j |