44 PRACTICAL FLY FISHING 



stances. It is better to take a little care in selecting a 

 rod in the first place than to try to " get used to it " 

 later on if you find it not up to your ideal. 



HIGH GRADE BAMBOO RODS 



We have given some idea of comparative prices of 

 wood rods but the great range in prices in split bamboo 

 rods is something bewildering to the beginner. They 

 can be bought for from seventy-five cents to seventy- 

 five dollars. Obviously one is not going to get a first 

 class rod for seventy-five cents nor for seven dollars 

 and fifty cents. On the other hand it is not necessary 

 to invest thirty or more dollars for a rod fit to fish 

 with. For from ten to twenty-five dollars one can 

 get a first class bamboo fly rod one good enough 

 for the father of his country if it is selected carefully. 



The raw materials unsplit bamboo, fittings and 

 varnish of a thirty-five dollar fly rod can be bought 

 in the open market for about twelve dollars. The dif- 

 ference represents profit, workmanship and selection. 

 It requires not only considerable mechanical skill to 

 produce a good bamboo fly rod but rare good judg- 

 ment as well. From hundreds of pieces of unsplit 

 " canes," all looking to the untrained eye pretty much 

 alike, the rod maker must select a few coming up to his 

 standard and likely, in his estimation, to produce the 

 ideal he has in mind. Pieces with " shakes," borings, 

 soft spots and other imperfections are discarded and 

 the ones selected are then cut out roughly by machin- 

 ery or split by hand with a dull knife, when other im- 



