448 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



The ring-keepers* are wrapped in the same way ; but the 

 manner of doing this can be better explained by examining 

 the way in which the rings are put on any rod from a tackle- 

 store. The same may be said of the wire loop through which 

 the line passes at the end of the tip. Before putting on the 

 rings, the rod should be joined together, getting it as nearly 

 straight as possible, and marking the places for the rings. It 

 may then be taken apart, and the rings put on each piece sepa- 

 rately. On a tip four feet long, there should be about seven 

 rings, beginning five or six inches from the small end, and in- 

 creasing the distance between them as you near the larger end. 

 Four rings are enough for the middle piece, and one or two for 

 the butt. Small rings made of very light wire should be 

 used for tips, and instead of the ordinary clumsy ring-keepers 

 sold at th^ tackle-stores, it is better to cut from very thin 

 sheet-brass, strips not more than the thirty-second part of an 

 inch wide, and of convenient length — say six or eight inches 

 long : these are more easily handled, the surplus length of 

 the strip being nipped off after wrapping, and used for the 

 next ring. To protect the wrappings of the splices and ring- 

 keepers, apply several coats of thick shellac varnish with a 

 small camel's-hair brush. 



The reel-bands, for reasons stated on a preceding page, 

 should be at the extreme end of the butt, and below the place 

 where it is grasped by the hand when casting. 



To MAKE A Rent and Glued, or Quarter-Section Tip. — 

 With the object of uniting the greatest degree of strength 

 and spring in the delicate portions of a fly-rod, and more 

 particularly in the tip, an artist friend, who is not only a fine 

 amateur mechanic, but an accomplished fly-fisher, some years 



* The little pieces of thin brass or copper that hold the rings against 

 the rod. 



