64 rilACTICAL LESSONS IN RIVEll AXGLING. 



your right hand take hold of the first of the turns, and, 

 gathering as much of it as you can, bind on till the 

 three remaining turns are wound off, and then take 

 hold of the end which you had before brought through, 

 and then draw close. 



The length of a rod must be regulated in a great 

 measure by the character of the river. A trouting rod 

 is usually made from twelve to fifteen feet, which will 

 enable the angler to cast twelve yards of line with one 

 hand. It should be as light as is consistent with 

 strength and durabiUty, as a heavy rod is cumbersome, 

 fatiguing, and unwieldy, while a light one gives greater 

 faciUty of casting under hollow banks or among trees 

 or bushes. Care should be taken to have rods suffici- 

 ently strong in the middle, where they are otherwise 

 apt to bend too much. As it requires a finer top for 

 fly-fishing than for troUing or ground-fishing, the 

 butt-end may be so constructed as to fit tops of different 

 sizes, and it is useful to have it with a spike screwed 

 to it by which to stick it occasionally in the ground. 



Rods are stained and varnished in a variety of ways, 

 as with copal varnish, or caoutchouc dissolved over a 

 slow fire in linseed oil '. Ash or other wood is easily 

 stained of a cinnamon colour by warming it before the 

 fire and putting over it some aquafortis with a'feather. 



Trouting Lines. 

 For fly fishing the line should be about thirty yards 



(1) See a variety of the best receipts for varnishes in my '« New 



SL-pPl.i.MENT TO THE Ph^RMACOPCEIAS-" 



