204 SCIENCE OF FISHING. 



This rod is to have reel bands only, instead of a metal reel 

 seat, and a place is hollowed out in this section for the 

 bed of the reel. The movable band is placed farthest from 

 the grip so that the reel is 'brought up close to be con- 

 venient for thumbing. This reel seat space is four inches 

 long by | inch thick. The tapered portion (A-3) is a grace- 

 ful taper 2f inches long, from the diameter of the reel seat 

 portion ( inch) to the diameter of the first measurement 

 on the rod, or 15/32 inch. This butt is to be made complete 

 from one piece of wood, and properly finished will make 

 a fine rod. If you don't like the hard, smooth wood grip, 

 you can make it a trifle lighter and wind it closely and care- 

 fully with some dark colored twisted linen line, about 27 

 or 30 thread size. This will make a very good grip. 

 Or you can make it still smaller, say three-fourths of 

 an inch, and wind it with split cane, which you can buy 

 from furniture upholsterers. 



The middle joint measures 15/64 inch at the small end 

 and 3/8 inch at the large end. The measurements on this 

 joint, as well as the tip, are 3 5/9 inches apart. Now, I realize 

 that this is an awkward measurement and you are not likely 

 to have any gauge that measures in unequal fractions, and 

 to make this easy I have marked off a strip at the bottom of 

 this diagram that measures exactly 35/9 inches in length, 

 the exact distance between these measurements on tip and 

 second joint. The tip joint will measure 15/64 inch at the 

 heavy end and 3/32 inch at the small end. 



It has often been said that we have no native woods 

 suitable for rod-making, that they are all too heavy, or too 

 stiff, but I once saw a very fine fly rod, a light weight one 

 at that, the tip and middle joint made of "juneberry," a 

 wood found in the mountain district of the eastern states, 

 and perhaps elsewhere. You may know this wood under 

 some other name, as I don't think that "juneberry" is right. 

 It is usually more or less crooked and holds its thickness 



