RODS AND BINGS. 377 



when the fish is hooked. Because of this the rings onght to be pat on 

 with great care. I have seen the breaking of a ring result in the break, 

 ing of the rod at the precise spot where the ring ought to have been 

 and why ? Because when the rod is bent the apex of thebow made 

 between the rings succeeding each way has been at the place from whence 

 the ring has been detached. An undue tension has, therefore, been in- 

 stituted at that spot, and snap has gone the rod. It is impossible to tell 

 by writing precisely where the rings should be placed, but the correctness 

 of their position may be ascertained by attaching a weight to the line, 

 and watching the symmetry, or rather regularity, of the bend of the 

 rod. If it be bent more in one place than another, the position of the 

 rings requires altering, and wherever the strain appears the greatest 

 there ought to be another ring placed to relieve it. 



The top and bottom rings, from their meeting with the greatest friction, 

 ought not to be of brass, but of steel for ordinary inexpensive rods. Mr. 

 Pennell gives a pattern, 

 which I copy (Fig. 1). As 

 the reader will see, it is of 

 wire, and can, therefore, be 



easily made. Personally, I Fm L Top RINQ Qf WIRB> 



prefer a ring of steel, which 

 encloses another of well-polished agate, which never wears. This need 

 not be of a clumsy or unsightly nature. Some persons prefer a solid 

 cylindrical steel tip to the top of the rod, through which, a smooth hole 

 being bored, the line passes, and, in consequence, all possibility of 

 entanglement is obviated. This dodge is only applicable for Nottingham 

 fishing, "fine and far off," in which long coils, as in spinning, are 

 unknown. 



If the top ring is likely to become entangled with the line, it is a 

 certainty that the bottom ring, under the old regime of coiling and 

 throwing, will be so in a tenfold degree 

 unless some different sort to those used on [ ~~\ 



the joints be adopted. A ring of the follow- L-^ fa *J 



ing pattern (Fig. 2) will answer the pur. 

 pose, and if convenient this also should be 

 lined with agate or bloodstone, to avoid 



friction as much as is possible. Its size, 



i 11 . j. . IT 3 L FlG 2 - BOTTOM RING. 



also, ought, for an ordinary trolling rod, to 



be much larger than the engraving, so as to allow of the coiled line to 

 speed out without much let or hindrance. 



I have recently had brought to my notice a top ring, which seems to be 

 a peculiar advantage and improvement. It is so constructed that its 



