220 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



pense entirely with this ungraceful and clumsy style, and 

 enable the rod to be used with the hand alone, as in fly 

 fishing. I sincerely hope that my brother anglers will not 

 thus handicap their skill, nor encourage this needless exten- 

 sion of butt. It will be well to remember, in this connec- 

 tion, that no excellence is gained but by great labor, and 

 no skill attained but by careful practice. There may be 

 born poets, but I doubt if there are born fishermen ; the 

 love may be innate, but its confirmation requires patience, 

 perseverance and elbow-grease. 



The novice will be sometimes told by theoretical anglers 

 that he must procure a rod which accords with his size, 

 strength, and general build ; that a rod which suits one 

 angler, will be too long, too short, too heavy, or too light 

 for another. Now, this is all gammon ; a rod must be 

 made to suit the kind of fish, and the mode of fishing, 

 without any reference whatever to the angler himself. 



In ordering a shot-gun that is to be used on all kinds 

 of game, from the lordly buck to the dainty quail, it is of 

 the highest importance that the gun should be built to fit 

 the sportsman in every particular, and he then varies the 

 charge according to the game. But there is no analogy 

 between a shot-gun and a fishing-rod; the latter weighs 

 but ounces, where the former weighs pounds, and the 

 weight of a rod for Black Bass angling will suit a weakly 

 youth, or the strongest man, as well. A half-pound in 

 weight is of no moment as compared to the strength of a 

 man ; and it is all stuff, and the sheerest nonsense, to talk 

 of making a rod of this weight conform to the muscular 

 requirements of any individual. A well-balanced rod feels 

 the same to the weakest man or strongest, the tallest man 

 or shortest; while a rod that lacks this quality will feel 



