RINGING A ROD. 13 



derived from the latter is its greater command of the 

 water in a large river, where delicate fishing is not of 

 such vital importance. It is true I have seen the 

 double-handed rod used on a small river, and pretty 

 successfully too ; but there was certainly a considerable 

 freshet at the time, and the trout were greedily on the 

 feed, taking almost anything that was offered, and not 

 inclined to be particularly nervous at a little disturbance 

 of the water. It is only on those occasions, when the 

 fish are ravenously on the feed, and the waters full and 

 turbid, that the clumsy operator with his coarse tackle 

 and two-handed rod, and those who will persist in using 

 flies that most glaringly outrage nature and common 

 sense, may succeed in doing a little business with a 

 moderate degree of success. But, nevertheless, I am 

 thoroughly convinced that the most adroit method of 

 casting, with the most delicate tackle, and with flies the 

 closest imitations of nature, is necessary to obtain a 

 good basket in ordinary states of clear streams. 



Before finally taking leave of this important imple- 

 ment, I would beg to observe that a great deal of the 

 smooth and efficient action of a rod depends upon the 

 proper placing of the rings and their whippings upon it. 

 It will not answer to dispose them at equal distances 

 along its length, as many would suppose ; neither must 

 they be placed too thickly, nor too far apart, in order to 

 ensure an equal and combined action of all its different 

 parts, from the butt to the tip, without which no rod 

 is worth having. For a rod 13 feet in length and 

 of four joints, the following scale will be found to coin- 



