SOME CONTROVERSIES 129 



strain on the top part is much too severe. The 

 lines such rods were accustomed to were light, made 

 of horsehair, or horsehair and silk, and propelling 

 them was no great strain. Presumably their owners 

 never attempted to fish against a strong wind, and 

 if they wanted to make longer casts they used longer 

 rods. That must be the explanation of the twenty- 

 two-foot salmon-rods of which heroic tales are told. 

 No one would fish with a twenty-two -foot rod out 

 of sheer gaiety of heart, though possibly the actual 

 labour of using it with a light line would be no 

 greater than the labour of using a modern eighteen- 

 foot rod with a heavy line. The common use of 

 trout-rods measuring thirteen or fourteen feet 

 was probably due to a similar need which exists 

 no longer. Now that a ten-foot rod will cast twenty 

 yards with ease and comfort, there is no reason 

 to be bothered with a weapon which requires two 

 hands. 



Not that the old-fashioned two-handed rod is 

 without its uses still. To my mind it is the best 

 possible weapon for lake fishing where you want to 

 have a good reach, and to use fine gut. A two- 

 handed rod seems to me better in boat fishing than 

 a short rod, but if it is built on the modern lines 

 it is apt to be too powerful for fine gut and small 

 flies. In this respect the old light-topped rod is 

 much more suitable. At different times I have 



