130 TROUT FISHING 



purchased two modern split canes, fourteen feet 

 and thirteen feet, primarily with an eye to lake 

 fishing, and both have been failures for that. But 

 both have proved fine little salmon-rods. 



The fact is that with the new system of rod- 

 building you can get too much power, and the old 

 system still has its points of superiority for some 

 kinds of fishing. A really good fourteen-foot trout- 

 rod of the old type is a treasure. For lake work 

 and also for sea trout in some places it cannot be 

 beaten. The same thing applies to salmon-rods 

 also, of course. That is digressive in this considera- 

 tion, but I may perhaps mention the case in which 

 you have to fish a big river when it is low. You 

 want a good reach of rod, but at the same time you 

 must use a light line and fine gut. An old-fashioned 

 eighteen-foot rod seems to meet the case better than 

 anything else, for a modern fourteen-foot rod, though 

 it would cast the distance all right and would not 

 be too hard on the gut, would not hang the fly well 

 enough. The same sort of thing has to be considered 

 in trout fishing at times. 



Generally, however, I am heartily in accord with 

 the modern idea of what a rod should be and with 

 the tendency to reduce all necessary weight. I 

 often discussed this question with the late Mr. 

 Halford, who was by no means disposed to welcome 

 the new light -rod ideas with enthusiasm. He used 



