8 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



two must never be confused. The tyro, the would-be 

 caster, from very necessity must take much upon 

 faith, and when a man like the writer urges a short 

 rod, admits that only after long experimentation 

 came to the use of it himself, after prejudice had 

 been knocked out by experience, the tyro surely will 

 believe him. Therefore and consequentially, once 

 again the 5 foot, and 5 l /2 foot rod is hereby recom- 

 mended. Do not go over the 5 l /2 rod for handling 

 artificial lures. For ordinary live bait casting I use 

 the same rod, though for still fishing and certain 

 varieties of live bait casting I use one somewhat 

 longer; but more of this matter later, when we shall 

 devote a whole chapter to the subject. 



ROD MATERIAL 



The man unacquainted with the subject little 

 realizes what a vast field opens for discussion when 

 we take up the question of rod material. I might 

 dismiss the matter with but a word or two, as do so 

 many angling writers, giving my first, second and 

 third choice, say, with reasons therefor; but that 

 would hardly satisfy the tyro or the eager angler, 

 the one who wishes to know if a certain wood has 

 been tried out by rod builders, and with what success. 



Naturally it will be impossible for the writer to 

 treat the subject exhaustively in the brief compass of 

 this chapter, but he will at least give the reader the 

 result of his personal experiments. However, let 



