34 SCIENCE OF FISHING. 



rod ten feet long, weighing about five and a half ounces, is 

 right, and for black bass it should weigh six ounces, or a 

 little more, especially where the fish run fairly heavy or are 

 found in rapid streams. Solid wood rods should be from a 

 half ounce to an ounce heavier. 



German silver ring and keeper guides were formerly 

 furnished on nearly all fly rods, especially the cheaper ones, 

 but now the snake guides are used more and they are the 

 best metal guides, as they are always in position for the 

 line to run through without binding. The tip should always 

 be of agate, the small offset kind, as the friction here and 

 the sharp angle of the line causes the enamel to wear off 

 quickly. For the same reason the first guide above the reel 

 should be of agate, but it should be small. It is not neces- 



A Salmon P^ly Rod. 



sary that the other guides be of agate as the line runs straight 

 through them, and agate would add to the weight of the rod. 



In fly fishing, unless the automatic reel is used, nearly 

 all anglers retrieve the line by hand and the reel takes no 

 part in the playing of the fish. It merely holds the line that 

 is not in use. This way of handling the line throws quite an 

 angle in it where it enters the first guide, and as a conse- 

 quence the line wears rapidly unless an agate guide is used. 

 As an agate guide will only make your rod cost about fifty 

 cents more and a new fly line will cost anywhere from one 

 dollar to three and a half, or perhaps more, it will be readily 

 seen that an agate first guide is cheapest. 



German silver, bronzed, or oxidized ferrules are best in 

 the opinion of many fly fishers, as they say the flashy nickel- 



