230 A BOOK ON ANGLING 



should use as long a rod as he well can. For a man of short 

 stature and not too robust frame, from sixteen and a half to 

 seventeen and a half feet should be about the limit ; for a 

 man of moderate capacity, from seventeen to eighteen and a 

 half, or a little more ; for a tall strong man, from eighteen or 

 eighteen and a half to twenty or even twenty-one. I have 

 known as much as twenty-two feet used. The Master of Lovat, 

 I am told, uses a rod of something like twenty-four feet in 

 length ; only employing the whole length of the rod, however, 

 when playing a fish, or when a very long or unusual cast is 

 required ; at other times, casting by grasping the rod some 

 two feet or more above the reel. Of course, where such rods 

 can be at all easily handled, they give very great advantages. 

 The next point to consider is the construction of the rod ; 

 and this is delicate ground, because it is such a matter of taste 

 and fancy. Some like a very pliable, and some a very stiff 

 rod ; and each may be, to an extent, justified in his choice 

 by the style of fishing he adopts and the waters he fishes. 

 For general work something of a medium character is, perhaps, 

 more suitable. The Irish spliced rods are, to my fancy, rather 

 too whippy or flexible ; the Scotch perhaps a trifle the other 

 way. Formerly our London makers were indifferent hands at 

 salmon-rods ; but I think now they have made up for any lost 

 time ; and I could point to one or two whose productions 

 cannot be beaten in this respect. The prices of London makers 

 range very high ; but, if the price is high, the workmanship 

 of a first-class rod is unexceptionable. I have one by me 

 for which I gave 4, and although I have had it these ten years, 

 and have killed hundreds of salmon with it, it is very little 

 the worse for wear. It is rather a moot question with anglers 

 as to which is preferable, a spliced or ferruled rod. If the angler 

 always has an attendant to tie, untie, and retie his splices, 

 and if they do not wear out, then there is no comparison. 

 For actual fishing, the spliced rod is preferable, for not only 

 is the play of the rod nicer, but you avoid the weakness which 

 is established by the junction between the metal and wood ; 

 you never are bored to pick the stump of the top joint out of 

 the ferrule after a smash ; and you can get from one to two 

 feet more on to the length of the rod for the same weight. 

 But, on the other hand, where you have to tie and untie your 

 own splices, and to retie if they work loose, breaking string 

 now and then, and cutting fingers, etc. etc., the nuisance is 

 so great that I prefer to put up with a ferruled rod with which, 



