BAIT-CASTER AND BASSES 81 



tournament casting, shorter rods are sometimes used. 

 The essential difference in the use of the short rod and 

 that of the long is that the short rod is employed almost 

 exclusively to cast artificial baits, spoons, singlehook 

 fly-spoons, artificial minnows, and pork-rind baits of 

 various descriptions, and to cast them largely with the 

 overhead cast; while the longer rod is best adapted for 

 the live minnow with the side cast. Overhead casting 

 is not practicable with rods much over six feet in 

 length. When fishing it is very advantageous to be 

 able to employ the overhead and side casts at will ; also, 

 at the present time, the tendency among bait-casters is 

 very strongly toward the use of artificial baits. 



When selecting the bait-casting rod the angler should 

 consider, in addition to the casting qualities of the rod, 

 its suitability to playing and landing fish. Within 

 reason the shorter rods are better suited to long casting, 

 say the rod of five to five and a half feet. But the 

 caster who employs a rod of this length, surely sacrifices 

 efficiency in handling his fish. As a general rule the 

 longer the rod the more control you have over a hooked 

 fish, also the more certain you are of hooking a rising 

 fish. But to still retain good casting qualities in the 

 rod and the ability to use it for both styles of casting, 

 side and overhead, the rod must not be much over six 

 feet; all things considered, the six-foot rod is the best 

 for all general bait-casting purposes. Its material 

 should, for light fishing, be split-bamboo. For heavy 

 fishing in weedy lakes and deep, swift rivers a sturdy 

 rod of bethabara or greenheart is more serviceable. 



The guides of the rod must allow free-running of 



