The Outfit — Rods. 43 



expensive kind to be used when casting, it is essential 

 that the splice shall always render freely when the line 

 is taken by the fish or is recovered by the angler. 



Standing-guides rather than rings, and a " three-ringed 

 top" rather than the ordinary single ring-top, would 

 seem more fully to meet these conditions, while directing 

 the line along the rod and from the end of the tip just as 

 well. The guides may be tubular, as is usual on striped 

 bass-rods, or they may be made of rather small and stout 

 rings inclined at an angle toward one another so that 

 they may meet above, while separated below a distance a 

 little less than the diameter of the ring. They are silver- 

 soldered together where they meet above, and are brought 

 in contact with, and in like manner united to, a keeper 

 below. These weigh but little more than the ordinary 

 ring and keeper, the weight of the extra ring being partly 

 offset by their smaller size. 



Fig. 4. 



Fig. 3. ^"'^- ^■ 



He who desires to make his own rod will find full di- 

 rections for that purpose in " Fly-Rods and Fly-Tackle." 

 Since tlie method of planning a rod there given is a 

 mathematical method applicable to rods of any size, but 

 little need be added thereto. But three points need be 

 known : the diameter at the extreme outer end of the tip, 

 the diameter at the thickest place of the butt above the 

 handle, and the distance between these two points. All 



