FISHING HODS. 215 



length is 12 feet 4 inches. That is the length I 

 prefer. A rod fourteen feet long is only necessary 

 in wide rivers where large fish are to be met with. 

 There are not many men who can with one arm 

 wield it conveniently. It is an implement for the 

 strong in the arm alone. 



The materials of which fly-rods should be made 

 are, ash for butt, hickory for middle pieces, bamboo 

 cane for top. The butts of small fly-rods for lads 

 and ladies may be made of willow. It is a nice 

 light wood, and sufficiently elastic for toy-rods. 

 Lancewood I like not for fly-rods. The ash, 

 hickory, and bamboo used should be perfectly 

 seasoned and completely void of blemish or flaw. 

 Let your fly-rod be in four pieces ; a greater num- 

 ber are injurious ; a lesser inconvenient. Balance 

 in a fly-rod is the main point. 



Salmon fly-rods should vary from sixteen to 

 eighteen feet in length those of sixteen feet for 

 grilse, sea trout, and so forth ; those of eighteen 

 for salmon of any size. A salmon rod 17 feet 4 

 inches is of the preferable average length. It 

 should be made of the same materials as the trout 

 fly-rod, and should also consist of four pieces. 

 The top-joint should have about two feet of lance- 

 wood next the small piece ; the remainder to the 

 point should be of bamboo cane. The splices of 

 top-joints cannot be glued and whipped too 

 firmly. 



