406 BOOK OF THE BLACK BASS. 



harmonize with the foliage of Trout streams, and I have 

 seen the bark left on alder, elm, and tamarack poles when 

 used in bait-fishing, but they were not more successful 

 than the varnished rod. 



Split bamboo and other jointed rods must of necessity be 

 varnished to preserve their elasticity and beauty. Think 

 of a delicate split bamboo tip coated with sky-blue paint! 

 The very thought is heresy, and an offense against the 

 eternal fitness of things that would make even the spots 

 on a Brook Trout blush more deeply crimson. American 

 split bamboo rods are the finest made rods in the world, 

 and the numerous foreign orders received by the manufac- 

 turers fnlly attest this fact, and show, moreover, that they 

 are duly appreciated abroad, as well as at home, highly 

 varnished and flashing though they be. 



There is one feature of this subject that is peculiarly 

 gratifying to me, and I heartily thank Mr. Francis for the 

 article in question. It concedes the fact that fish, having 

 eyes, can see, and are not the near-sighted dupes that most 

 writers would have us believe ; this concession could not 

 be put in a stronger light than by the assertion that they 

 are frightened at the flashing of a varnished rod, and that 

 a rod, therefore, should be rendered as nearly invisible as 

 possible by painting it a sky-blue or cloud color. But if 

 this - were done, what a quantity of brash wood and poor 

 workmanship, and what a multitude of sins of omission 

 and commission would this sky-blue mantle, like charity, 

 cover ! 



When fish are frightened at a fishing-rod at all, it is 

 when its shadow is suddenly cast upon the water which 

 all prudent anglers are very careful to avoid doing, espe- 

 cially on small streams and, viewed in this light, a sky- 



