FLY-FISHING. 459 



it is not. I trust, ere this plan is commented on as I know full well it 

 will be, by those who pretend to know a great deal it will be tried. 1 

 have seen and taken too particular notice of these rods to be mistaken, 

 and have seen these in a Spey man's hands send a line that would 

 frighten most people to look at. These rods, when you have acquired 

 the knack, will throw ten yards more line than a common rod ; and 

 against wind they are superb. 



We ought to have stated that twenty feet is quite long enough for 

 this rod ; it is also much stouter and heavier than an ordinary salmon- 

 rod. To make ourselves better understood respecting it, we will sup- 

 pose it to consist of three splices. These should be carefully and 

 closely wrapped on arriving at your fishing ground ; and, if circum- 

 stances admitted, might be kept so until leaving the place altogether. 

 Divide this eighteen feet by four, and you get four feet six inches as 

 the quarter. Thus, the third quarter, i. e., nine feet from the butt, is 

 where the great play is in this rod, and which, as I said above, is 

 reduced rather more than the proportion ; while the fourth quarter is 

 not so much ; care, however, must be taken not to run into the oppo- 

 site extreme, for a slight increase in the size of the top would naturally 

 throw the play elsewhere ; and the slightest fining off of the next 

 quarter confines the play there. So much value do I put on this rod, 

 that I am writing to the banks of the Spey for a veritable one, the 

 which I shall have great pleasure in submitting to any tackle-maker 

 desirous of the pattern ; for of all rods in the world it is the one best 

 adapted to the uncleared banks of all our best salmon rivers, where 

 frequently you are unable to get your fly in by any other method than 

 as it is termed " switching." 



The great fault that most rod-makers commit, is not knowing where 

 to make the rod give. This should be at a point below the first splice, 

 according to the size of the rod, sufficient to keep the strain from it, 

 and also to prevent the natural stiffness caused by the splice from 

 interfering with the play ; again on the second splice, it must give 

 from the foot, as far distant as the yield is from the top of the butt- 

 piece ; and again about the same distance from its top. The top 

 piece also gives at the distance laid down for the top of the middle 

 piece. I learnt this from watching the play of a Blackwater rod, for 

 which the maker was deservedly famous, so much so, that his rods 

 sold for more (plain though they were) than Martin Kelley's salmon- 



