302 ROD AND RIVER 



ash or some such wood. This kind of gaff is all 

 very well when the services of an assistant to 

 carry it are available, but if the fisherman is 

 alone, such an arrangement is an intolerable 

 nuisance to carry about, for it cannot well be 

 slung across the back, and if so carried it is per- 

 petually getting in the way, and yet carried it 

 must be somehow. 



It is therefore necessary to have recourse to 

 one which is more portable. Now, the worst of 

 folding gaffs is, that they are either lacking in 

 length, strength, or both. A certain length is 

 necessary, because, as may very readily be 

 understood, when the fisherman is holding a 

 salmon-rod in one hand, the latter being neces- 

 sarily kept upright, he cannot possibly reach the 

 fish with a short gaff without smashing his rod or 

 tackle, for a rod will only bend to a certain 

 extent. A gaff must therefore be long enough 

 to admit of the fish being reached with ease. It 

 must, of course, possess sufficient strength, or 

 else it will break at the critical moment. It thus 

 becomes a case of gaff v. rod. 



I know of only one description of folding gaff 

 which fulfils both of the required conditions, and 

 that is the invention of the Rev. E. L. Berthon, 

 the Vicar of Romsey, also the inventor of the 

 Berthon portable boats, and scores of other 

 things besides. He is a friend of mine, and at 



