6o 



stouter line than yours, and make it cut through an adverse wind ? " 



" It might, perhaps ; but we don't use such iieavy laden tackle in 

 the Highlands as you gentlemen in the South." 



Be that as it may, the writer soon endeavoured to put an idea of 

 his own into practical shape. On his return home he looked up an 

 old " greenheart " which had belonged to his father, and, having the 

 necessary tools for manual operation, began then and there to 

 re-model the rod in his own workroom. After much deliberation on 

 the science that treats of the laws regulating the power of moving 

 bodies, it was considered that the action fixed upon would make the 

 Spey cast even more interesting and effectual than ever. In the first 

 place it would not only enable one to work a comparatively heavy 

 line, but the weakness, arising from the top joint curving backwards, 

 would never come about. Nor was this all. For it was thought that 

 by the intended reduction in thickness at the butt, and by leaving 

 more wood than is usually seen at the bottom of the upper joint, the 

 line could not only be propelled in the ordinary way more easily, but 

 when necessary, as in windy weather, could even be made to cover 

 distant hsh, by means of a direct throw. 



This innovation shall be made more evident presently, but therein 

 lay the supreme advantages over the traditional style of rod. 



To accomplish successfully our self-imposed task, it was 

 determined to get, by repeated trials, the exact action required. And 

 after a delicate use of the plane, many times over, the rod was tested 

 in different winds, and finally approved. 



With regard to the weakness just mentioned, it may surprise 

 many to learn that the top joint of some of the Spey rods is actually 

 made with a backward curve, under the assumption that the power of 



