Fishing Hods. 151 



yet there are emergencies when both hands must be used, 

 for occasionally a six-pound bass or a fifteen-pound pick- 

 erel, pike-perch, or catfish will be hooked, or an unusually 

 bold or fierce fighting bass may get the advantage of one 

 and take to the weeds or rocks. It is also essential to 

 have enough room for the hand below the reel in casting, 

 as the thumb must control the running off of the line, and 

 prevent the reel from overrunning or backlashing. It 

 must have light standing guides, instead of the rings used 

 on the fly rod. 



The rod from which my original description of the 

 " Coming Black Bass Eod " was taken was eight feet and 

 three inches long, in three joints; the first joint or butt 

 was composed of white ash, and the second joint and tip 

 of lancewood; it weighed just eight ounces; it was finely 

 balanced, with a true bend from butt piece to tip; with it 

 I killed hundreds of black bass, weighing from two to six 

 pounds, and pike from five to fifteen pounds. I used it 

 many seasons, and failed to see, where it could be improved. 

 I oftentimes cast out my entire line of fifty yards / when 

 casting with the wind. I felt justly proud of the merits 

 of the rod, for I made it myself. 



Standard Henshall Kod. 



The following are the correct specifications of the rod 

 just described; it should be borne in mind that the diame- 

 ters are of the wood, or more properly of the inside diame- 

 ter of the female ferrule, where the joints are concerned; 

 also that the joints are flush, or non-doweled, and with 

 reel-bands instead of a solid metal reel-seat : 



Total length of rod, 8 feet, 3 inches. 



Length of each piece (without ferriile), 33 inches. 



