12 THE ANGLER. 



spike at the end. The spike is to enable the 

 angler to stick the rod in the ground when he 

 needs to leave his line in the water, or when 

 he is fishing with two rods. From ten to twelve 

 feet is a good length for general purposes, but 

 an extra top or two will be very handy. These 

 tops should all be made to fit into the last joint ; 

 and the rod, when complete, should gradually 

 taper from point to butt, like a whip-handle. 

 For fly-fishing and trolling, a longer rod is 

 necessary than for bottom-fishing. When out 

 of use, the rods should be kept in a dry place, 

 and a good scraping and varnishing will do 

 them no harm occasionally. If the joints 

 become loose, the end that fits into the metal 

 should be moistened. It is important that the 

 angler should know how to mend his rods if 

 they happen to break as the best of rods will 

 sometimes. This is done by means of a splice, 

 and it is to provide against such accidents that 

 we take with us, on our angling excursions, the 

 scissors, knife, &c. The broken ends of the 

 rod must be carefully pared away in a slanting 

 direction, so as to fit each other nicely, and 

 then bound tightly with waxed twine or silk. 

 (See engraving.) 



For trolling and fly-fishing, the rod should 

 be fourteen or sixteen feet in length. 



As a general instruction, we may remark 

 that the lighter the rods the better. 



LINES, 



These are made of various materials, accord- 

 ing to the kind of angling they are intended to 



