BROOK TROUT AND FLY-CASTER 9 



good tackle tends to interest one in its proper handling, 

 both in casting and also in fishing the flies, and as a 

 result the angler finds his interest and success increas- 

 ing rather than otherwise. 



Choice must be made between the six-strip and eight- 

 strip rods, the split-bamboo rod being made from tri- 

 angular strips usually six or eight rent from the 

 natural cane and cemented and bound together. Expert 

 opinion favors the six-strip fly-rod. 



If the angler is to have but one rod probably ten feet 

 is the best length, but any length from nine to ten feet 

 is generally satisfactory. It depends a great deal upon 

 the character of the waters to be fished. For small 

 brooks the shorter rod is preferable, but for big, rough 

 streams where long casting must be done and large 

 trout handled in swift water the ten-foot rod is best. 



Be sure to have the ferrules and reel-seat of the rod 

 of German silver. This material is stronger, cleaner, 

 and more serviceable than nickeled brass. The hand- 

 grasp should be of the sort known in the tackle trade as 

 "solid cork," not a mere sheathing of composition- 

 cork over a wooden form. For fly-casting the reel- 

 seat must be below the hand-grasp. The guides of the 

 rod should by all means be of the pattern known as 

 English "snake" guides, and their material should be 

 steel or German silver, the former being most suitable 

 because the line will not wear grooves in them as in 

 the softer German silver. 



Select a rod that bends equally from handgrasp to 

 tip-end, one that balances well is not either tip or 

 butt heavy and is not too limber or whippy. The 



