[ THE ROACH. II 



the wobbly action, as noticed in the last chapter, is very 

 much pronounced ; besides, the extra joints and ferrules 

 represent so much extra weight that ought if possible, to be 

 dispensed with. A roach rod from eleven to twelve feet long 

 should not have, under any circumstances, more than three 

 lengths, while one of fifteen feet should have no more than 

 four, and this will allow the necessary stiffness for the sharp 

 and prompt strike that is absolutely indispensable in a good 

 roach rod. The rod should be built with plenty of timber 

 or cane in the lower half of it, and should have an accurate 

 taper up to the fine point in the top end half; indeed, if 

 the angler can manage it anyhow, his rod for still water 

 roaching, even if fourteen feet long, will be all the better for 

 strike, balance, and weight, if it has no more than three 

 lengths to it. One of the nicest roach rods, as far as prac- 

 tical work went, that I ev^er saw was not a \^ry handsomely 

 got-up affair. It belonged to an angler who lived close to 

 the river Ouse, and had no ferrules or joints in it at all. It 

 was a single stick of beautifully tapered East Indian cane, 

 with about a yard of lancewood, spliced, glued, and whipped 

 firmly on the top end. It was fairly thick at the butt end, 

 was a trifle over fourteen feet long, and was a perfect treat 

 to handle; it would respond on the very instant, and hook 

 a roach in a twink. The owner assured me that it had 

 killed some thousands of roach and bream during the six 

 years he had had it. Unless the angler lives on the banks 

 of these deep still waters it is not advisable to have a rod in 

 a single length like the one jiust described ; its extreme 

 awkwardness in travelling or carrying about precludes its 

 imiversal adoption. 



Personally, I have had many a try, and wasted many a 

 good bit of cane and lancewood during my endeavours to 

 make myself a really first-class fourteen-foot roach rod, but 

 I succeeded at last, and the one I finally experimented on, 

 and pronounced satisfactory is a composite weapon of rather 

 peculiar build. The butt is a length of East India cane six 

 feet long, fitted with the usual ferrule, safety rings, winch 

 fittings, and butt cap. The centre joint is also East India 

 cane, five feet long, with rings and ferrule, and the top is 

 lancewood three feet long only, ringed as usual. This rod, 



