26 FISHING KITS AND EQUIPMENT 



duce which the maximum of skilled hand-labor has been 

 called upon and the minimum of barber-post windings 

 and fancy trimmings. Caveat emptor should be the 

 maxim of every man who barters for a fly-rod. What 

 to pay for a rod will be discussed in a subsequent chap- 

 ter. 



Rods for trout fly-fishing are also made of the solid 



woods bethabara, greenheart and lancewood, and of 



steel. The steel rods, very good rods 



Other Rod f or certa j n p urp0 ses, are most emphat- 

 Matenals. . p . ' _ F 



ically of no use in fly-casting. Ihe ac- 

 tion of the rods is very harsh, while at the same time 

 they are lacking in the elastic whip that puts out the 

 flies lightly and far. Moreover, they are heavy. One 

 way to describe the inherent unfitness of the steel rod 

 for fly-casting is to say that it is too metallic. The 

 " gentle turn of the wrist " used in striking the small 

 trout of our mountain streams, no matter how care- 

 fully done, with a steel rod results in a brutal snap 

 that many times tears the hook away from the fish. 

 On no account get a steel rod for fly-fishing. They 

 are very good and handy rods for certain purposes and 

 their proper uses will be mentioned later. 



Of the solid wood rods, bethabara, greenheart and 

 lancewood, it may be said that rods well made from 

 any of these materials are good rods, although they 

 suffer in comparison with the split-bamboo. Not every 

 man, however, can afford the latter. It is an axiom 

 that it is much better to pay a certain price for a solid 



