APPENDIX ON FISHING-TACKLE. 323 



troller will not kill pike. It varies from 10 to 16 feet in length, made 

 of hickory and East India cane. (Ephemera says it should not be longer 

 than 11 feet, Hofland not less than 12.) A strong top in the hands of 

 a good troller maybe adjusted to any rod for this purpose, and there is 

 usually such a one to the general rod. A professed trolliog rod, of 

 whatever length, should be stiff and straight as an arrow, and so 

 formed as to permit the line to run freely without chance of inter- 

 ruption ; its rings should therefore be sufficiently large to allow slight 

 obstacles on the line to pass, and not too numerous ; and they must be 

 fixed and motionless, of the improved make, and placed very exactly 

 to secure the easy passage of the line, and to avoid all chance of 

 entangling it. 



THE FLY ROD is commonly considered under two varieties, the Salmon 

 rod and the Trout rod; for although the salmon rod might kill a trout, 

 a salmon of ten or twelve pounds would be apt to carry away the whole 

 material of the trout rod. Fly rods are best in four, though some- 

 times extending to five, and occasionally to six joints, made of hickory, 

 excepting the top joint which should be of solid bamboo, and 

 the butt which should be of ash. The material cannot be too well 

 seasoned. Lance-wood is by some preferred to hickory, but it is 

 heavier and less elastic. Some recommend that the top joint should 

 terminate with about six inches (not more) of whalebone ; but if the 

 top b5 made of fine-grained bamboo, the rod is not so likely to be top- 

 heavy. Rennie recommends lance-wood for the top joint in preference 

 to whalebone, but real bamboo of good quality is preferable to either. 

 Others recommend bamboo for the top joint, and lance- wood for the 

 next. Mr. Chitty strongly advocates spliced tops and whalebone tips. 

 In fact, there is such a variety of opinion in respect to the tops of a 

 fly-rod, that we must beg to leave the reader where we found him. 

 The rings should not be too small, and gradually diminish from the 

 butt to the top. Every rod used in fly-fishing should taper regularly 

 from the bottom to the top, except for about 18 to 24 inches 

 of the lower portion or butt-joint, which, in trout rods that are 

 tolerably fine, may be slightly enlarged to give firmness to the grasp. 

 On the regularity of its taper will depend that uniformity of bend, or 

 play, which is required to produce a certain mechanical action on the 

 line, by which the thrower is enabled to deliver it to its fullest extent 

 with precision and lightness. A good fly rod should never be, as some 

 recommend, pliable quite down to the hand, neither should it be over- 

 stiff. Its pliability should be barely perceptible till about the middle : 

 but the hand will soon acquire the practice of determining, by waving 

 the rod, what is right. There should be a moveable spike to screw 

 into the ferrule at the base of the butt-end, to fasten in the ground 

 when occasion requires. 



The Trout Fly rod should have a fine top, and be more pliant than that 

 used for the salmon, and consist of either three or four joints. When it 

 does not exceed the usual average of 13 feet (a favourite length is 

 12 feet), and is made moderately light, it can be used with either 

 hand, and will enable the angler to direct the fly to any spot with 

 precision. Bainbridge thinks 12 feet a proper length for use in small 



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