CHAP. xi. Which Rodl 157 



contested fight. Still it is a matter of opinion, for a friend who 

 was fishing with me came home one evening very cock-a-whoop at 

 having killed a 5-lb. Carnatic Carp on a single-handed n-ft. trout rod,* 

 and having had so much fun out of it, that he declared he would never 

 use a salmon rod again. There was no gainsaying that argument, but 

 against it there is the consideration that you kill many more fish with 

 the salmon rod, for the simple reason that you can throw a much 

 longer line ; and this is a matter of some importance, when you are 

 fishing mainly in still, or almost still, water, and you want to get your 

 fly so far away from you that the fish may not see you or the coracle ; 

 for if they see it your chances are of course nit, as already fully ex- 

 pounded in previous chapters. The coracle is such an obvious object 

 that the necessity for a long line is greater then than when fishing on 

 foot, and able to conceal yourself. I have killed the Carnatic Carp in 

 heavy runs, and in shallow stickles, which you can approach more 

 nearly with impunity, because of the ripple on them ; but I have killed 

 many more and better fish of this sort in the deep, almost still, eddies 

 near the steep banks under the overhanging trees ; therefore it is for 

 this sort of fishing that you should be best prepared, and for this I like 

 the long cast of the salmon rod. Again, three large No. 5 Limerick 

 hook flies are just a trifle heavy for an i i-ft. rod. Once more, we are 

 not quite sure how heavy may be the fish you may get in this manner 

 of fishing. It is true that of the fish caught by my friends and self the 

 great majority were 5 Ibs. and under, and that 7, 8, and 9 Ibs. were the 

 biggest Carnatic Carp we took ; still Day says they run to 25 Ibs., and 

 such a distinguished naturalist is not likely to have made such an 

 assertion without having tested it by something better than native 

 hearsay; tested it probably by net-caught specimens. Natives have 

 told me that they run to nearly a cubit in length ; we know they are a 

 very deep fish. Whether a 2 5-lb. Carnatic Carp will rise to a fly or 

 not has, I fancy, got to be discovered, but if it will, such a fish would 

 ordinarily be a trifle too much for an n-ft. rod. And one lives in 

 hopes of getting such a fish on, does not one ? 



A i4-ft. rod is a compromise, and latterly I came to recognize it. 

 It is a rod which you can use single-handed for a few throws, very few 

 with most men, but for any length of time it will call for two hands. 



* I have since had the same experience on a 9-ft. trout rod, and yet I am un- 

 converted. 



