TACKLE 25 



siderable improvement has been made in them of late 

 years. Compared with the old style steel rod the 

 extra light weight model handles a line fairly well 

 and when wrapped solidly with silk it is enormously 

 strong. A friend who fishes for the heavy bass in 

 Florida uses a rod of this kind and speaks highly of it. 

 The regular steel rod of 9 feet weighs 8^4 ounces; 

 the extra light weight style about 5^4 ounces. 



ALL WOOD RODS 



Wells in his " Fly Rods and Fly Tackle " lists and 

 describes more than 20 kinds of wood suitable for 

 rod making but modern makers have settled upon 

 lancewood, dagama, greenheart and bethabarra as be- 

 ing the most satisfactory. 



Practically every angling writer and rod maker ad- 

 vises the purchase of a good wood rod if the angler 

 cannot afford a hand-made one of split bamboo. In 

 another work * I have disagreed with this advice as 

 regards the short bait casting rod, but as an unusual 

 amount of skill and very good material are required to 

 make a first class bamboo fly rod perhaps a well-made 

 wood rod is the proper tool for the angler washing to 

 invest only a small amount, or for the beginner who, 

 later on, may acquire more positive opinions as to what 

 constitutes a good fly rod. Later, I will discuss the 

 cheap bamboo rod. 



In considering the purchase of a wood rod the 

 angler must bear in mind that the merits of the sticks 



1" Practical Bait Casting"; Macmillan Co.; New York, 1918. 



