CASTING POWERS OF RODS. lor 



than one of thirteen feet, made as supple as they 

 usually are. And even in rods of the same stiff- 

 ness, a couple of feet extra length will not enable 

 the angler to throw much farther from him. For 

 supposing he is using a line twice the length of his 

 rod, he will have four feet extra length of line and 

 two of rod, in all six feet. But then the rod in 

 casting is never held straight out, but at an angle 

 of about forty-five degrees ; the line also makes an 

 angle with the water, so that five feet is the utmost 

 additional command of water gained, and this is 

 much more than counterbalanced by the facility 

 of casting with the small rod, and by its lightness ; 

 two feet extra length in a rod entailing at least a 

 half more weight. 



It is quite common among anglers to suppose 

 that a twelve-foot rod will command twice as much 

 water as one of six feet, but this is an error ; and 

 in order to explain this, it is necessary to consider 

 in what the casting power of a rod consists. The 

 first power in the casting of a line is the force with 

 which it is urged forward ; thus, if the angler uses 

 a great amount of force, his line will go farther 

 than if he uses a less amount. The forward mo- 

 tion is communicated to the line by the point of 

 the rod, so that upon the rapidity with which the 

 point of the rod moves through the air depends 

 the motive-power applied, to the line. We think 

 the point of a six-foot rod may be sent through the 

 air as fast as that of a twelve-foot one ; and, there- 

 fore, if the angler was standing on -an elevation of 



