70 SUPPLEMENT TO THE BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



to be used for the same kind of fishing, it follows that it 

 must be constructed of better materials and be more care- 

 fully and skillfully made, to preserve the same (or better) 

 qualities for casting the fly and killing the fish. 



Perhaps it would be too egotistic to say that this short- 

 ening and lightening of rods in general was induced, alto- 

 gether, by the introduction of the Henshall Black Bass rod, 

 but I am assured by some of the most candid rod manu- 

 facturers, and by many anglers, that this result is in a great 

 measure to be attributed directly to the superior excellence 

 of this short, light, and elegant rod and to the fact that it 

 subserves all the purposes, and promotes the pleasures of 

 Black Bass angling in a much greater degree than the old- 

 fashioned long and heavy rods. I am very much gratified 

 to think that this may be the case. 



The Henshall Black Bass Bait Rod. 



On page 217 of " The Book of the Black Bass " are given 

 the specifications of an ash and lancewood rod as made by 

 Abbey & Imbrie, which, while entirely correct for a rod of 

 maximum weight (ten ounces) for heavy fishing, are incor- 

 rect for the standard eight-ounce Henshall rod for ordinary 

 Black Bass fishing. The mistake Avas my own, but was dis- 

 covered too late to rectify in that book. It occurred in tliis 

 way : 



Mr. Imbrie applied to me for the dimensions and specifi- 

 cations of the Henshall rod, when I was residing at Cyn- 

 thiana, Kentucky, and at a time when I had sent all of my 

 rods to a coach-maker, in Cincinnati, to be rubbed down 

 and varnished for the season's Avork. I wrote to the coach- 

 maker to select the best-balanced eight and a quarter feet 

 and eight ounce rod in the lot, and to send me the exact 



