LENGTH OF RODS 53 



As regards the length for a trout-rod there are 

 a great many opinions. I speak, of course, of 

 single-handed rods. The fashion of late years 

 has been to reduce the length of rods very con- 

 siderably, and I think that this has been carried 

 to an excess. In my opinion no trout-rod, to be 

 a good, all-round, serviceable rod, should be less 

 than eleven feet six inches in length, and I prefer, 

 for my own use, one of twelve feet. With any 

 rod under the former length a long line becomes 

 a nuisance, especially in high grass, and when it 

 comes to long casting, the extra six inches make 

 all the difference between reaching a fish easily 

 or not reaching it at all, and if a rod of such a 

 length is well made and well balanced, it is just as 

 light to handle as a shorter rod. One might just 

 as well advocate the driving a coach with an 

 Australian stock-whip instead of an ordinary four- 

 in-hand whip. The former would doubtless be a 

 nuisance to one's self and everybody else. I am 

 not fond of such toys myself, and dislike too short 

 a rod as much as I do too short a gun. A short 

 rod is all very well where long casts are never 

 requisite, but when, as I say, it comes to long 

 grass and a trout rising far off, the bother and 

 exertion necessary to keep the line going and to 

 prevent the fly catching in the surrounding obstruc- 

 tions are very great. 



There is a description of rod very much used 



