THE FLY BOD 33 



serviceability in dry fly casting, to simply sug- 

 gest that you accept no rod, by no matter what 

 maker, without first putting it to every possible 

 test. I have endeavored to make it plain that 

 a first-class rod is the result of first-class labor 

 and material, and that it must possess a degree 

 of excellence not found in the common run of 

 fishing rods. The obvious corollary is that 

 any sort of rod passed over the counter to you 

 should not be duly and dutifully accepted on 

 anyone's mere say-so. 



Regarding the practical details of the rod, 

 apart from the general matters already dis- 

 cussed, and recalling the recommendation of 

 six-strip construction, it would seem that much 

 stream usage and experimentation in the tackle 

 shop and on the casting platform have resulted 

 in the standardization of several forms of fly- 

 rod fittings as being best adapted to the pur- 

 pose in hand and producing the utmost effi- 

 ciency in the rod. In the matter of ferrules, 

 only those of German silver should be consid- 

 ered. Also they should be capped, welted, 

 split or serrated, and waterproofed. Further- 

 more, it is perhaps unnecessary to suggest the 

 elimination of the " patent lock-fast joint " 

 the omission being based upon the fact that 

 American rod-makers, knowing the efficiency 





