24 FISHING KITS AND EQUIPMENT 



rod is that in the tip- joint, and proportionately in the 

 other joints, where the separate strips 

 Six- or are necessarily slender, the tip of eight 



eight- 

 strip? 



strips consists, to exaggerate a little, of 



about equal parts of glue and wood. 

 That the tip is apt to be soft goes without saying. It 

 is, however, perfectly feasible to have the butt and 

 middle joints of the rod eight-strip, and the tip six- 

 strip, and some rods are made in this way. The best 

 rods of two of the most prominent New York tackle 

 dealers, both for fishing and tournament work, are six- 

 strip. Another well-known firm furnishes its best rod 

 in both the six- and eight-strip styles, with an addi- 

 tional charge of $10 for the eight-strip rod. 



Variations of the split-bamboo rod as regards con- 

 struction, taking the hexagonal or octagonal rod as the 



standard, are not numerous in this coun- 



Variations try. In England a good many rods are 



^ .Yj 16 built with steel centers, and some are 



bamboo, known as double-built rods. In the 



steel-center rods there is a core of spring 

 steel wire extending through the entire length of the 

 joints for the purpose of making the rods more springy, 

 stronger and better casters. In the double-built rods 

 a core of either six or eight strips of cane is first made 

 in the usual manner, and then other strips are laid 

 on over these. Double-built rods with steel centers are 

 also made. In this regard it is worthy of note that 

 England's famous exponent of the dry-fly, Mr. F. M. 



