46 FLIES AND FLY FISHING. 



piece of waxed twine tied to the upper joint at 

 A, in cut. When you get to the water side 

 all that is necessary is to hold the two joints 

 together, take a few turns of the twine round 

 them, and put it under the wire at B, then 

 wrap tightly back again to A, and then twist 

 the end of the twine round the wire ; this will- 

 bo quite sufficient to keep all tight, and it can 

 be done and undone in a minute. It is neces- 





sary to have a piece of wood or india rubber, 

 in the shape shewn in fig. 2, to protect 

 the thin end of the splices when the 

 rod is in its bag. 



For trout fishing I prefer a very 

 pliant rod, as you can do much more 

 with it in a very confined space; this however is a matter 

 of taste ; but for grayling fishing, the rod should always 

 be rather stiff as they require a much sharper strike. 



A great number of the single-handed fly-rods of the 

 present day are made tapered off from the butt, com- 

 mencing a short distance above the reel ; this is radically 

 wrong and just contrary to what a good fly-rod should 

 be. A rod should taper gradually along its whole length 

 from the very end of its butt to its top ring. 



