96 THE TROUT 



not much to be added with respect to them which has 

 not been already touched on in the above remarks 

 on single-handed rods. A longer weapon than an 

 eleven-foot rod must almost of necessity be double- 

 handed, and under certain conditions of broad water 

 it may be extremely useful. But for 'all round 7 

 trout fishing with a fly, ten feet six inches is, the 

 writer ventures to think, as serviceable a length for a 

 rod as can well be suggested. 



It is most important for the fisherman to select 

 his casting lines carefully, and not to buy too large a 

 number of them at one time ; for fine casts, keep 

 them as best one may, are not often to be trusted a 

 second year. If during the winter they are put away 

 in a box, wrapped up in paper and thus kept as far 

 as possible from the influence of light and air, they 

 may perhaps last for a second season ; but when 

 every precaution has been taken, there is a sense of 

 insecurity about them, and the writer would advise 

 the purchase of a new batch at the beginning of each 

 spring. This may sound somewhat extravagant ; but 

 what is more irritating and more likely to upset a 

 fisherman's nerves and temper for the day, than to 

 lose the first fish of the year by having put on an old 

 cast, and to discover, too late, that it was rotten f 

 The few extra shillings which should have been ex- 



