14 AN ANGLER'S YEAR. 



enthusiasm, might be found at Deal and other places 

 where they fish, heaving their ponderous leads with slender 

 rods that bent, and even cracked, beneath the strain. 



Soon, however, a change came upon us, and the era 

 of " the sea-rod " dawned. Oh, those sea-rods 1 What 

 libels they were upon the rod tribe. They never bent 

 and swayed with the weight of lead used, even should 

 that weight be a hundred-weight. No! The angler 

 might bend and stagger, but the rod was rigid in action, 



J 



Fl<. 10. Carter's End Pulleys. 

 A. For wire line. B, For ordinary use. 



much resembling the kitchen poker. The wily rod-fisher 

 soon found that he must take no liberties with this rod 

 if he would save his tackle. It did not bend double with 

 the combined struggles of the fish and the weight of 

 lead ; in fact it did not bend at all. 



The sea fishermen soon found there was more give in 

 the line than in the rod ; therefore many, when they 

 hooked a good fish, adopted the plan of dropping the 

 rod point into the water and playing the fish direct from 

 the winch, a method of hand-lining which had to the 

 uninitiated the outward appearance of rod-fishing. 



