248 FLY-FISHING. 



and deprive the weak, pliant rod of all control 

 over it. 



Again, where the favorite pool lies close by the 

 overhanging rock, upon some accommodating ledge 

 of which the angler crawls prone to the earth, 

 hiding from the sharp eye of the watchful fish, he 

 can with a long rod jerk out the line, and twitching 

 it over the surface, beguile the prey ; while with a 

 shorter one he might be deprived of concealment, 

 and stand confessed a laughing-stock to the fish, 

 dangling a useless line close to the rocky bank. If 

 the water, the wind, or the fish are strong, the rod 

 should be the same ; although advocating gentle 

 treatment, there are times when, I assure the reader, 

 that vigor must be exerted, and then twenty feet are 

 better than fifteen. 



No practical working rod can be made by the re- 

 moval of one or more joints and the substitution of 

 others, to increase or diminish in length. There 

 must be a uniform taper consonant with the length, 

 which, in case of alteration, will be destroyed, and the 

 rod rendered harsh or feeble. The strain will not 

 come equally upon all its parts ; it will bend irregu- 

 larly, and under a sudden strain is almost sure to 

 give way. I had a rod in which a single joint could 

 be substituted for the butt and next joint, which 

 broke on an average of once a day so long as it was 

 used in that way, and until the two joints were re- 

 stored. 



The elasticity of a good salmon-rod is like that 

 of steel, and by the aid of such an implement alone 



