SALMON FLY ROD, REEL, &c. 49 



much as it should be called upon to do. If a 

 rod is required for very long casting, it should 

 begin to work at say 30 yards and go up to 

 40 ; but of course such a rod is not easy to fish, 

 and will not make the shorter casts well. 



The form now approved has stout power- 

 ful tops and middles, with moderate play in the 

 butt, the action coming well down into the hands. 

 Such rods, known as the " Hi-Regan," " Kelson," 

 and "Champion," have these characteristics more 

 or less accentuated, and will do all the casts 

 necessary to ensure sport. There should be just 

 that amount of elasticity, which, when properly 

 brought into action, effectually drives the fly to 

 the spot desired, with the least expenditure of 

 exertion on the part of the angler. Stiff or im- 

 properly balanced rods entail a great deal of 

 unnecessary labour. For instance, if a rod be 

 too stiff in the butt, great force must be used 

 to cause that stiff butt to spring sufficiently to 

 do its work. On the other hand, if the butt 

 be too supple to cast well into a wind, you may 

 tear your heart out and tire yourself, but you 

 won't get your fly to go through. The exact 

 amount of movement which is called "pace" is 

 difficult to determine or describe, and only ex- 

 perience and knowledge gained on the river will 

 tell the maker when he is right. A sixty- 

 fourth of an inch more or less in the butt of an 



