LENGTH OF RODS. 243 



factorily captured. I am fully aware of the ad- 

 vantages of very long and very powerful rods in 

 wide rivers, and in strong hands ; and I admit, 

 cceteris paribus, that a strong man, six feet in 

 height, with a rod twenty feet long, and winch 

 and line to match, will cover more water, and 

 capture a greater number of salmon in less time, 

 than a man of five feet six, with a seventeen or 

 eighteen-foot rod. In all other respects I suppose 

 them equal ; that the tall man is as expert an 

 angler as the short one, that the flies and tackle- 

 are equally good, equally well made, and of 

 equally good material. This equality being con- 

 ceded, the only difference will be that which exists 

 between the length, size, and strength of the men 

 and their tackle. This difference is advantageous 

 to the stronger man, particularly in large rivers 

 prolific of large fish. 



A man of the average height, weight, and 

 strength of Englishmen (5 feet 8 inches, and 10 J 

 stone), should never use a rod longer than 17 feet, 

 or at the utmost 17 J feet. That is the average 

 length I recommend for powerful rods. With it 

 the largest salmon that ever swam can be safely 

 played and securely captured. A winch that will 

 carry sixty, eighty, or sometimes one hundred yards 

 of stout line, will not destroy the balance of such 

 a rod. Twenty-five yards of line perhaps, in 

 the hands of a well-trained adept thirty yards 



K 2 



