210 FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



head, and lashing the water with its tail, exceeded any thing 

 I ever had on. An old angler who was on the opposite side 

 of the river, and has himself killed above fifty salmon this 

 season, said it was the wildest fish he ever saw. 



" Well, not to be prolix, I give you the result of many 

 hours' study in few words, prefacing them with the observa- 

 tion that the rod is as straight and serviceable now as when 

 first made, and has never failed or needed repair. 



"For the butt, 5j feet of well-seasoned, selected memel, 

 with the fibre of the wood running straight in the direction 

 of the rod ; if these conditions are not observed the wood is 

 useless. For the middle*piece, 4j feet of selected ash. For 

 top, 4| feet of lancewood. The memel butt is brass-hooped, 

 has good strong brass hoops for the wheel, and is joined to 

 the ash middle-piece with the usual brass ferrule. The lance- 

 wood top and ash middle-piece are joined with a new splice, 

 which is superior to the ferrule joining for its lightness, im- 

 possibility of any shifting, and the quickness with which it 

 is put together. This is the ' modern splice for fly-rods,' 

 which is illustrated and described on page 160, under the 

 head of'Trouting Tackle.' 



" There are twenty rings, graduating in size from the butt 

 to the top, including the top ring, which is just large enough 

 to allow the line to run freely. Proper ringing of a rod dis- 

 tributes the weight of a fish equally over it until it comes to 

 the ring on the butt end. The rod graduates from the butt 

 end to the top, is neither stiff nor supple, and throws a long 

 line. The* weight of the whole rod will give an idea of the 

 thickness of each piece. 



" I wish to draw especial attention to the material of the 

 butt, the ringing, and the new splice. This new form of 

 splice obviates the only objections (loss of time in tying, 

 loosening of splice during use, and the wearing of the ends' 

 of the splice) against a spliced rod, and renders it incompar- 

 ably superior to a ferruled rod." 



Francis Francis states that " the best wood is unquestion- 



