CHAPTER VI 



" I tell you more : there was a fish taken, 

 A monstrous fish, with a sword by 's side, a long sword ; 

 A pike in 's neck, and a gun in 's nose, a huge gun ; 

 And letters of mart in 's mouth from the Duke of Florence. 

 Cleanthes. This is a monstrous lie. 

 Tony. I do confess it ; 



Do you think I'd tell you truths ? " 



Fletcher's Wife for a Month. 



H 



AVING set forth the advantages, as 

 well as the risk of wading, in a fair, 

 and I hope a rational light, I will 

 proceed to advise on other matters. 

 In primis, your rod should be proportioned to 

 the size of the river you fish in ; eighteen or twenty 

 feet long. The longer the rod, the greater com- 

 mand you will have over your fish ; for being 

 enabled to keep the line more perpendicular, you 

 can lead him with more ease and security amongst 

 rocks and eddies ; whereas with a short rod you 

 cannot keep enough of your line clear of the water 

 to prevent danger in such places.* It is true that 

 the late Lord Somerville, who was an excellent 

 fisherman, used a one-handed trout rod for salmon. 



* The evolution of the split cane rod has modified practice a 

 good deal ; 16 feet to 18 feet would now be the usual variation of 

 choice. Split cane rods are so powerful that even a single-handed 

 rod of u feet will kill a salmon pretty quickly, and not a few men 

 use such a rod now. The chief advantage of a long rod is in " hang- 

 ing " the fly over the fish. (ED.) 



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