46 PRACTICAL BAIT CASTING 



Undoubtedly it has resiliency, snap, go, "pep," or 

 whatever you want to call it; also that hard-to-de- 

 scribe-quality we call balance in greater degree than 

 any other material. Likewise it is lighter in pro- 

 portion to length and strength than wood or steel, 

 and viewed merely from the standpoint of casting and 

 fishing efficiency, it is without an equal. 



Parenthetically, a light bamboo rod is not recom- 

 mended for fishing regularly, where large pickerel or 

 pike predominate, as their dead weight and under- 

 water style of fighting break down the fiber of bam- 

 boo and will eventually "put a set" in the best of tips. 



Coming to the subject of how much to pay for a rod, 

 let us first turn our attention to the time-worn state- 

 ment that if you cannot afford to invest from $25.00 

 to $30.00 in a bamboo rod, it is better to pay from 

 $12.00 to $18.00 for one of solid wood. Years ago 

 this statement may have been true; it is not true to- 

 day. At any rate it does not apply to the casting rod. 

 For a fly-rod fairly long pieces of small diameter and 

 considerable strength are required and this kind of 

 bamboo is becoming rare. Besides not nearly so high 

 an order of workmanship is necessary in making a short 

 rod witness the fact that you probably know any num- 

 ber of men who make their own casting rods but buy 

 their fly rods. Furthermore, because of the popular- 

 ity of bamboo short rods, more attention has been paid 

 by manufacturers to the problem of producing them for 

 little money this is the twentieth century * 



