ACTION OF A PERFECT TROUT ROD 215 



vibrations should be compared with the curvature, vibra- 

 tions, etc., of some rod, whose length, weight, curvature 

 and vibratory action was standardized, this test affording 

 some indication of the relative qualities of the rod tested. 



I think that the strength and the vibration of the finished 

 rod can be thus standardized, and that the method of a 

 base line as suggested by Mr. Baden-Powell, in conjunction 

 with a consideration of the curves made by the rod when 

 subjected to pressure, is effective, simple, and ingenious. 



It will be recognized, however, that such a test could afford 

 no indication of that most important quality, the " action " 

 of the rod on the holder in which it was fixed, and therefore 

 the information derived from such a method would be of 

 little use to a fisherman when selecting a rod, for his hand 

 would have to take the place of a holder used in such 

 a test. 



By the action of a rod is hardly meant its amount of 

 whippiness, its balance, its rate of vibrations, its power, etc., 

 but rather a something which affects the hand, wrist, and 

 forearm of the holder, and which is the direct result of these 

 combined qualities. 



A MECHANICAL TEST 



When handling a rod we speak of its having a delightful, 

 or the reverse, action, and we judge of this by its influence 

 on the hand which holds it. The term " action " therefore 

 is, or at least should be, used as a separate term to be applied 

 to the feel of the rod, which is a result of the combined 

 influences of its other qualities. 



Now the mechanical test introduced by Mr. W. Baden- 

 Powell, gives no clue to this influence, i.e., the action of the 

 rod on the vice or holder in which it is fixed. The rod then 

 which produces the least hit or jar on whatever may be the 

 holder in which it is placed, is that rod which will be the 



