82 



MODERN SEA FISHING 



newspaper through it large enough to almost fill up the centre 

 of the coil. Next place two chairs about 2 ft. 6 ins. apart ; 

 insert a walking-stick through the centre of the roll of news- 

 papers, and lay the two ends of the walking-stick on the chairs. 

 The line will then be on a sort of winder, and all we have to 

 do is to get the end free, fasten it to the reel, and wind away. 

 Rod-making is, of course, beyond the scope of this book j 

 but I would earnestly impress upon sea anglers the desirability 

 of keeping their rods thoroughly well varnished or oiled, and 

 of renewing whippings whenever necessary. Any good coach- 

 maker's varnish is excellent for rods. The longer it takes in 

 the drying, the more elastic and durable it is likely to be. The 

 ferrules should be lightly smeared with vaseline from time to 

 time, and the little sheaths of the short boat rods, which will 

 be mentioned later on, should be kept well oiled. Never place 

 a rod in a damp corner or hang it up against a damp wall. 

 Beware, too, of damp cases for your rods. I severely injured a 

 split cane rod once by carelessness in this respect. On getting 

 to the river I took the rod out of its case, put the case in my 

 creel and fished away all day. There were a few showers which, 

 I suppose, penetrated through the wickerwork and wetted the 

 rod case ; at any rate, it was moist. Without observing that 

 the material was damp, I took the rod to pieces, placed it in 

 the case and left it there some days. The result was that one 

 of the tops which required varnishing came unglued. This 

 happened five hundred miles from a tackle-maker. I do not 

 suppose split cane rods will be much used in sea fishing. Cer- 

 tainly there is no necessity for them ; but any rod may be 

 injured in this way. Stops are sometimes the ruin of rods. 

 Wet enters a female ferrule during a day's fishing ; at night 

 the careful angler, when he takes his rod to pieces, inserts a 

 stop in the ferrule, carefully corking up the moisture, and the 

 wood inside swells and in time rots. 



