T?r^ 



Stet. 



firmer hold. When this precaution is not taken, and 

 the ends not tightly fitted, the angler will sometimes, 

 more especially when throwing a long line, he liahle 

 to send half of his rod to follow his fly. A piece of 

 clean sound fir makes a good stock when it is not 

 intended to be hollowed: hut when it is required 

 to be hollowed, there is nothing better than a piece 

 of ash. Hickory is mostly used for the piece next 

 the stock, and the upper lengths are made of lance- 

 wood, hazel, yew, &c. and the extremity of the top 

 piece is sometimes of whalebone, bamboo, elder, or tor- 

 toise-shell, according to the taste of the owner. The 

 piece of whalebone ought never to exceed six inches 

 in length, for, though supple, it is not very elastic; 

 and when too long it is apt to acquire a permanent 

 bend, from frequent strain. Most anglers will ac- 

 knowledge that the handiest rods which they have 

 fished with are such as are not joined by means of 

 sockets, but are scared, and which are not com- 

 monly reduced to more than two pieces. Such rods 

 are only to be met with in the neighbourhood of 

 a trout-stream, where the owner has no occasion to 

 reduce them to short lengths for the convenience of 

 carriage when travelling, but generally carries them to 

 the water in two pieces, and frequently keeps them 

 in a rack at their full length for weeks. Pocket 

 rods consisting of eight or ten pieces, of eighteen 

 inches each, are well adapted for the gudgeon 



