50 SALMON FISHING 



18 feet rod, will make or mar that rod. How 

 then, the reader may ask, can makers decide what 

 is correct? The maker must have the correct 

 article as his pattern, and it is customary for those 

 manufacturers who are also skilled anglers, to 

 have patterns which have been subjected to all 

 manner of tests and comparisons in actual work, 

 always at hand as a guide. The use of tables 

 giving deflections under live and dead loads, and 

 the counting of vibrations, help them greatly, while 

 a quick and correct eye and the feel of the rod, 

 aided by long practice, are necessary to success. 

 Well then, we hear some one ask, what rod 

 would you advise ? The balance and style which 

 may safely be followed, have already been indi- 

 cated in the foregoing remarks, but the matter 

 of length and weight depends upon the physical 

 powers of the angler, and the conditions under 

 which he is to fish. Every man must choose 

 for himself. He knows his own strength, and 

 can easily lay his hands on rods, varying from 16 

 to 18 feet in length, and so form his judgment 

 as to what he can use with comfort, always being 

 careful to choose a rod rather under than over 

 his strength. A mistake may be made, if he 

 desires a cane-built rod, and forms his judgment 

 from the feel of a greenheart ; as it must be 

 remembered that a cane-built rod of much less 

 comparative weight will do all the work of the 



