60 GENERAL REMARKS ON 



CHAPTER IV. 



" The rod fine tapering with elastic spring, 

 Snatch'd from the hoary steed the floating line, 

 And all thy slender wat'ry stores prepare." 



THOMSON. 



IN the natural order of our piscatorial lessons the 

 selection of the various implements required for 

 the pursuit of our art presents indisputable claims 

 for consideration at this stage of our labours. 



It may be well to observe that we shall not 

 attempt to give instructions for the manufacture 

 of all the different articles, because such instruc- 

 tions would occupy a great deal more space than 

 would perhaps be commensurate with their utility. 

 Nobody, now-a-day, thinks of becoming his own 

 rod or reel maker, except professionally. Most 

 of us are too closely engaged with the active 

 duties of life to find time for such a purpose ; and 

 those who are not, have rarely the mechanical 

 ability, or, if so, the inclination, to apply them- 

 selves to the task. And the necessity for such 

 amateur manufacture is obviated by the facility 



