RODS. 77 



foot fisherman to wield it with comfort, and I am quite satis- 

 fied that for all ordinary purposes the salmon fisher would get 

 more comfort and more sport, too, with a rod such as that I 

 have described than with a longer and more fatiguing and 

 unwieldy weapon. . . . 



It should be borne in mmd as a mechanical axiom in this 

 matter of the length of rod, that exactly in proportion as you 

 gain in casting power by the increased leverage, so (the motive 

 force being equal) do you lose in the propelling power by which 

 only the leverage can be utilised — the practical deduction from 

 which proposition is that every man has a length of rod exactly 

 proportioned to his physical strength— a rod out of which, that 

 is, he can get the maximum of casting force compatible with 

 sustained muscular effort — and that it should be his object to 

 ascertain what that length is. Bearing in mind the mechanical 

 argument, I am disposed to think that a shorter and more 

 powerful rod might in many cases be substituted with advan- 

 tage for a longer and lighter weapon, and this principle has 

 been carried out with success by Farlow in a 13 ft. 6 in. green- 

 heart salmon rod they make according to my instructions. 

 With this rod I get plenty of power and excellent casting ; in 

 fact there is little really appreciable difference in these respects 

 between this and the steel-centre spliced bamboo built for me 

 by Hardy, except when casting against a strong head wind. 



However, as I have said, these are matters of individual 

 taste, and must be left to the appreciation of individual salmon 

 fishers. Till we have our fly-rods made entirely of steel — an 

 improvement which I take it is only a question of time ^ 

 (unless, indeed, as a reviewer suggests, an objection be made 



1 I have lately seen this prophecy actually realised in a tubular steel trout- 

 rod made by our enterprising American cousins. Unfortunately the principle 

 of this rod, which was that of a telescope, made outside rings impossible, and 

 I found, in practice, that when casting, the friction of the line inside the whole 

 length of the rod, made it next to impossible to get out line, whilst with a fish 

 on— even a three- pounder— the same result followed, only in a much greater 

 degree, and not a yard of line could be taken out by the fish unless the rod 

 was pointed straight at him like a gun. 



