Advantages of a Spliced Rod. 7 



will give a good spring : butt, 4 feet 8 inches; middle 

 piece, 3 feet 7 inches ; top, 5 feet 5 inches. This 

 form of rod, however, is not so convenient for carry- 

 ing about, as the top projects somewhat beyond the 

 other pieces, and is therefore more liable to be 

 broken, unless care is used, especially in railway- 

 travelling. 



Any one who has never handled a well-balanced 

 spliced rod of this description can have no concep- 

 tion of its immense superiority to the ordinary 

 jointed rod as regards lightness and elasticity. The 

 angler who gives it a fair trial will never, I believe, 

 exchange it for any other ; and should he still prefer 

 to use a reel, notwithstanding the manifold advan- 

 tages of the loop-line system of fishing, which I 

 am about to describe, he may have the rod fitted 

 up in all respects in the same way as the jointed 

 rod, minus the joints. In artificial fly-fishing, where 

 the true and prompt action of the rod is a matter 

 of the utmost importance, the spliced rod, as afford- 

 ing the best means of obtaining a combined and 

 easy play of all the parts from the butt to the 

 tip, is without any rival. From its inestimable 

 advantage of responding at once to the action of 

 the wrist, it enables the angler to cast with the 

 utmost delicacy and precision, and to strike with 

 all requisite promptness and certainty. Thus any 

 dexterity and skill in casting which the angler may 



