Rods and Rod Material. 101 



over the poles of the preceding table, will induce a will- 

 ing consent to the sacrifice. 



Dame Juliana Berners, in the " Boke of St. Albans," 

 published in 1486, recommends the following rod : It 

 is to be at least fourteen feet long the butt measuring 

 a "f adorn and a half" (nine feet), and of the thickness 

 of an "arm grete" (as thick as a man's arm), with joints 

 bound with long "hoopes of yren" (iron hoops). 



Certainly this remarkable implement possessed 1 advan- 

 tages not found in the modern rod. In stream fishing, 

 with its aid as a leaping-pole, the stream could be crossed 

 from side to side, as occasion required, dry shod ; or it 

 might even be used as a bridge, if the angler had a 

 good knack of balance ; while on the pond or lake, labor 

 at the weary oar could be relieved by erecting it at the 

 bow and extemporizing a sail for the mast so made. 

 Again, at sea it would well serve as a staff to a harpoon 

 or boat-hook, or as an extra light spar according to the 

 exigencies of the moment. Truly there must have been 

 " giants in those days," to wield such a weaver's beam 

 as this, bound with long " hoopes of yren." 



As to the action preferred in a fly-rod, even greater dis- 

 cordance of opinion is found. One likes a rod stiff as a 

 poker for the lower third, and withy for the remainder 

 of its length. Another will look at nothing not stiff in 

 butt and tip, and sloppy in the middle joint. A third 

 must have plenty of action in the butt, and not much 

 elsewhere ; a fourth uniform action from the handle to 

 the tip, but quite stiff withal ; a fifth the same general 

 spring, but great flexibility; and so on to the end of the 

 chapter. Therefore the writer, when he describes what a 

 fly-rod should be, gives but his own personal preference, 

 from which many a better angler will dissent. 



