JOO best's art of angling. 



rod, because they say it is more light; but I in 

 answer to that aver, that it is not half so strons: 

 and lasting, and that the ash, on account of its 

 strengthj may be turned in the lath, or planed 

 down to be every jot as light as the deal, and 

 that the angler, when he has hooked a good fish, 

 need never fear its snapping short, as deal will, 

 because it is the nature of the wood to bend 

 almost doub'e, and will always, if well seasoned, 

 return to its former straitness. Let your rod, 

 thus made, be ringed for the line to pass through, 

 with small brass rings, about a foot distant from 

 tach other, aiidat the but end let there be a spike 

 made to screw in, which you will iind ver}'^ con- 

 venient; and you may, if you like to alter the 

 colour of your joint (though it does not signify 

 so much in ash as in deal, whose whiteness 

 would scare the fish) first warm it before the fire, 

 and then dip a feather in aquafortis, put it on the 

 ash, and then chafe it in with your hand, and it 

 will make it a cinnamon, or rather Q.puce, or flea 

 t:olour. 



Your fly line should be about thirty yards 

 long, and wound on a small brass muUiplying 

 winch, which is to be placed on the but of your 

 rod; then you must run tire line through the 

 rings before-mentioned, and you may ahvays 

 command the length without the trouble of 

 changing the line, and shorten it when you come 

 to places encumbered with wood. The general 

 length that you should have off your reel must be 

 about four yards longer than your rod, nay, 

 sometimes the line must be twice the length of 

 the rod; for to fish fine c\nd far off is the standing 

 rule for trout fishing. But it will be a long time 

 before you are able to throw a dib line with 

 nicety at the general length, yet as you can 



