THE THAMES ANGLER. 19 



is made of it should always have a free and equal spring in it 

 from the butt end to the top. This is of the greatest importance 

 when you are playing any large fish ; therefore be particular 

 always to have the rod that you may be buying put together 

 first, and try it in your own hands. For an angler residing in 

 the vicinity of the water which he is in the habit of fishing, a 

 better rod for spinning cannot be obtained than by buying a 

 long bamboo cane, which costs two shillings, splicing a piece of 

 whalebone on the top, and fitting the cane with fixed rings. I 

 think that the length of the rod depends much on fancy ; the one 

 I use for trolling, and fishing from the bank, is about fourteen 

 feet, and this I alter to eleven feet for my punt rod: this rod, 

 which is as good a one as can be made, cost two pounds ten 

 shillings ; but rods that will catch fish can be bought for four 

 shillings and sixpence, or less; and it often happens in remote 

 country districts, where the fish are not so highly educated as they 

 are in the Thames, that a Btraight hard stick will do quite as much 

 mischief as the rod that is brought to the water in the polished 

 oak box and cost five pounds. An accident to a rod is a great 

 nuisance to the angler, therefore be always provided with an 

 extra top; a fracture in any other joint of the rod can generally 

 be set with a piece of twine that has hen rubbed with cobblers' 

 wax (always to be carried in book). xt to the rod comes 



the reel, or winch, and when I have said that this adds much to 

 the comfort of all fishing, and is almost a necessity, I have said 

 enough. They are, of course, t<> he bought at all fishing-tackle 

 shops, and vary in price from two shillings t<> almost any sum, 

 depending on their click and multiplying properti 

 Following closely on the reel we have 



LINES. 



These are made of all sorts of material, depending upon the 

 kind of angling they may be required for: the running line for 

 light fishing, such as roach, date, gudgeon, &c, should be of 

 silk, or silk and hair : an old fly-line, whether tapering or not, 

 answers the purpose well. Those composed of hair alone 

 are very light, and do not hold the water like a silk line ; this is, 

 of course, a great advantage in fly fishing. Thirty yards will be 

 enough on the reel, and this will only be wanted when a barbel is 

 hooked, in roach fishing, or when a large perch takes the red worm 



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