18 AMATEUR EODMAKING 



ferior glue and varnish then available, resulted 

 in the method often followed of winding joints 

 solidly with silk thread or narrow silk tape. 

 This made the rod soft or logy and was dis- 

 carded finally, to be revived in recent years, 

 and again discarded. 



The four-section cane rods gave way to six- 

 strip rods, and these are here to stay. They 

 have been used successfully for the past genera- 

 tion and have outlived their offshoots, the eight- 

 strip, the seven-strip, and the steel-centered 

 single and double-built rods, showing that they 

 are based on very sound principles. 



It is the belief among rodmakers that in a 

 hexagonal rod the upper and the lower strips 

 are called upon to perform the greater part of 

 the work of casting and playing a fish, but the 

 strain on the upper strip is supported, not by 

 the lower strip alone, but by the three lower 

 strips, as shown in Fig. 3. 



When the greatest strain falls on the lower 

 strip, the three upper strips support it, as pic- 

 tured in Fig. 4. This seems to be borne out 

 by the fact that in tournament casting the 

 hardest work a fly-rod is called upon to per- 

 form it frequently occurs that the lower strip 

 is fractured, but the strength of the rod is but 

 little impaired, and turning the rod so that the 



