THE EOD. 283 



the ' Wind ' or the Flip Cast, any ordinary rod might be used, and with 

 a certain amount of success. These places are few and often far between 

 and are as often bordering upon many ' awful places,' in which the 

 veteran will present his fly as if by magic. To do so he must be well 

 appointed. A rod for general purposes may be ever so perfect, and yet 

 prove almost useless with a line either too light or too heavy. The action 

 of it is made manifest by comparison with a Trout rod. In direct contrast, 

 it will propel a heavy line from the butt without perceptible effort of the 

 Angler. " 



The reasonableness of what is now being urged with, I fear, too much 

 repetition, is clear. To be able to cast far, to cast against wind successfully, 

 to " Switch " or " Flip " properly in short, to be able to hold your own 

 in Salmon fishing, you must not use a line too light, but one that demands 

 plenty of lifting power in a rod having plenty of stuff in the upper part 

 even to top-heaviness. 



To objectors it may be also replied that a light line is no desideratum 

 in fly fishing for Salmon. On the contrary, it is well to fish fairly deep ; 

 and, moreover, line and gut trace should taper as explained elsewhere. 

 To the more plausible objection as to increased weight in rod and line, 

 this must be emphatically said : First, that owing to modern improve- 

 ments, especially in all fittings, rods are made much lighter in proportion 

 to length and strength than they used to be ; but, apart from that (and 

 here the emphasis lies) the great question is not so much whether a rod is 

 actually heavy or not, but whether or not it fishes heavy. When once its 

 proper use and available powers have been acquired by a few days' 

 training, the modern rod, of the style described, fishes infinitely lighter 

 than the old style. " The rod casts of itself " is an opinion often declared 

 of it. The question is one for the muscles, What is it that tires ? Not 

 weight absolutely, for it is manifestly true that, even with two old- 

 fashioned " Trouty " rods, the heavier, if the better in balance, is far 

 less tiring than the one of lighter weight reckoned by Ibs. and ounces. 



We should not be misled by the adjective " light," as applied to rod 

 or to line. The term must be regarded as relative ; and determined 

 practically in meaning not merely by weights and scales, but also and 

 chiefly by the final verdict of nerves and muscles. Weariness comes far 



