Chapter XXVI: The Angler's Clothing and Footwear

And let your garments russet be or gray.
Of colour darke, and hardest to descry.

_Pleasures of Angling._

=Hobnail Footwear.=--Most any boot or shoe can be used for wading the trout streams, but a special selection is always best for every sort of purpose. Rubber, canvas, and leather are employed in the making of the fisherman's footwear. The hobnail heel-and-sole pattern is the correct article for use in swift-running water. The hobnail recommended above all others is the common, cheap soft-iron hobnail with corrugated head; carry a package in your tackle box.

=Repairing Waders.=--Patch holes in rubber boots and rubber stockings, etc., by covering the holes with thin sheet rubber, cementing this with a mixture of black rubber dissolved in spirits of turpentine.

=Drying Rubber Boots.=--Fill 'em full of hot bran.

=Clothing.=--Sack coats, heavy trousers, a stout vest, all with plenty of large pockets. In color the garments should be gray, drab, or brown.

=Hat.=--A soft felt of gray shade.

=Boots and Shoes.=--Brown leather.

=Waders.=--Leather shoes with holes in the sides or canvas shoes for summer. Rubber boots or wading trousers for cold weather.

=Woolen and Rubber Clothing.=--Good quality woolen will shed rain for hours. Wear rubber outer garments in a wet brushy trail.