SALMON FLY-RODS 123 



hard as you like, you will never be able to cast 

 a fly ten yards. The wood salmon rod is pro- 

 portionately as flexible as the whippiest trout 

 rod, therefore but little muscle and weight of 

 line are necessary to develop its spring, and its 

 user can cast lightly and sweetly at fifty or one 

 hundred feet for the rod does most of the 

 work. 



In salmon fishing rods, great power is not of 

 vital importance, for any one of these rods is 

 capable of handling 100 to 125 feet of double 

 tapered line, and that means that they can be 

 depended on to kill the biggest salmon. It is 

 essential to kill these royal fish on the rod and 

 to gaff them only after their fight is ended; 

 therefore, a nicely balanced wood rod will an- 

 swer, it being conceded that bamboo will be 

 less likely to give way to the accidents that 

 may occur on any game fish stream. 



Salmon fly-casting has grown more and more 

 popular among the clubs that practice fly-cast- 

 ing as a pastime, and men who have never seen 

 a salmon river and probably never will see one 

 have become adepts with the salmon rod and 

 its heavy line and leader. It appeals to many 

 who do not care for the contests with four and 

 five-ounce trout fly-rods, and it is an exceed- 

 ingly fascinating game. 



For a long time the maximum limit to the 



