The Fishing of Rivers with the Wet Fly 87 



easily with one hand, I am strengthened in 

 my faith in such rods. 



As for its length, that is a matter of 

 wrist power and daily use ; but 10 to 11 

 feet is a useful length for the fly rod on a 

 large river. A great deal of excellent work 

 can be done with one of 10 or 11 feet, 

 as I can testify, provided that the rod be 

 powerful enough to lift a long line " clean " 

 off the water, without which the rod has 

 no real backbone. People do not suffi- 

 ciently realize that lifting the line " clane 

 an' cliver " off the water is the first great 

 essential to any well - delivered cast. If 

 the line at the lifting gets " drowned," the 

 forward throw will prove a failure. 



It is here that so many cheap, ready- 

 made shop rods fail utterly ; they are mere 

 toys, unless they possess power. And I 

 hold that the perfection of a rod reads, 

 Backbone plus delicacy, and that delicacy is 

 a delusion minus " backbone." 



I have already spoken of rods, and I 

 will say no more save that, even on a large 

 river, I never throw a very long line, if, by 

 wading fairly deep, I can attain my object. 

 But it is well to be able to do so, since he 

 who can throw an extra long line will 

 occasionally get his fly over trout which 



