54 ANGLER'S TACKLE AND EQUIPMENT. 



in steam along the edges of the ferrule, and as it does 

 so, the extrication of the joint from its socket may be 

 accomplished without difficulty. 



As a guard against the injury done by rain, &c., 

 many of the Irish rods are constructed with the ferrules 

 inverted, that is, with the tube or socket fixed on the 

 lower end of the length, so as to cap or lie over its cor- 

 responding joint. In this case, the rain or moisture 

 trickling towards the butt is prevented from insinuating 

 itself, by the crevices of the joining, into the wood 

 below. This alteration in the position of the ferrule 

 will also, there is no question, give additional stability 

 to the hollow butt-piece, and materially favour its con- 

 struction. The butt-pieces, however, I may mention, of 

 the Irish rods are generally made solid. 



RINGS. Stiff or fixed rings I have always held in 

 disfavour, and decidedly condemn them, as appendages 

 to the fly-fishing rod. They are employed, I am aware, 

 by many anglers, in preference to loose or moveable 

 ones, and it is asserted that, in trolling, they possess a 

 marked advantage over these, in regard to the facility 

 of escape they give the line. I cannot say, for my own 

 part, that I perceive it ; on the contrary, they are apt, 

 I think, greatly to embarrass its movements, and often 

 occasion its entire stoppage. 



In point of weight and size, the rings of a rod ought 

 severally to correspond with its power and dimensions. 

 Regard also must be paid to the thickness and material 

 of the winch-line which they are intended to give escape 

 to. In order to maintain this regard, it is not neces- 

 sary, however, to sacrifice proportion in any great 

 extent. The reel line itself is of faulty thickness, 

 should such sacrifice to its accommodation be found 

 needful. In fact, the two ought so to suit each other 



