40 FLY-FISHIKG A^D FLY-MAKItfG. 



male and female ferrule and the wedge-shaped dowel, 

 which has the express property, owing to its form, of loosen- 

 ing on being shaken. Any mechanic even knowing noth- 

 ing of rods will tell you that a tapered dowel always has a 

 tendency to shake itself loose by vibration. Even those dow- 

 els that are not tapered are objectionable, because they 

 impair the elasticity of the rod. As short a joint as possi- 

 ble should be insisted on if one would possess a useful and 

 perfectly satisfactory rod. In these days one is so abso- 

 lutely safe in the hands of a respectable tackle maker 

 that I should only be occupying space uselessly if I di- 

 lated further on rods for fly-fishing. Let these rules 

 guide you in your purchase : Go to a well-known, 

 good maker, pay a fair price cheap is generally nasty in 

 fishing tackle and rather get too light a rod than one 

 too heavy, and eschew dowelled ferrules. 



The name of the reels in constant use is legion. In 

 buying, observe one thing obtain no multiplier. A 

 multiplier illustrates the mechanical law, every time you 

 use it, which is stated thus : What you gain in speed 

 you lose in force. A click or check reel of good make, 

 with wide diameter of barrel is sufficient for anyone's re- 

 quirements in trout fishing. 



And now, as to the reel line. Let it ever be propor- 

 tioned to the dimensions and strength of your rod. A 

 too thin line is a greater nuisance than one too stout, and 

 necessarily, of course, he who builds your rod will indi- 

 cate the right kind of line. For my own part, I prefer 

 one of the new " Acme " lines, patented by the Brothers 

 Foster, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, the peculi- 

 arity of which is the incorporation of a fine copper wire 



