2 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



The description of the modern dry-fly rod is a far 



easier matter than it was in 

 Rods. 1888, when I first ventured to 



offer advice to the angling- 

 public on the important question of selecting a suit- 

 able rod. Since those days the double-handed rod 

 has disappeared, and the single-handed one, with a 

 length of 9 ft. as a minimum and 10 ft. 6 in. as a 

 maximum, is nowadays recommended by all modern 

 authorities. A vast majority of the twentieth-century 

 dry-fly men are strong advocates of the built-up or 

 split bamboo rods. There are, however, still some 

 who prefer green-heart to split bamboo, as the material 

 for. rods, and among these is Mr. John Henderson, 

 whose opinions are given in Chapter VI H of this 

 book. I would ask the reader to give his very best 

 attention to Mr. Henderson's arguments, because he is 

 pre-eminently a practical dry-fly fisherman. Personally, 

 I cannot agree with him, because in my own experience 

 no green-heart rod ever made has been comparable to 

 the split bamboo rods I have used for the last thirty years. 

 Mr. Hardy's opinion in reference to the class of 



bamboo to be used for the 

 Material for split modern rod is here set forth :— 



bamboo rods. " No great alteration or 



improvement has been made 

 during the last few years in the method of construc- 

 tion. In materials, split bamboo has become in- 

 creasingly popular, while in wood rods green-heart 

 still holds the pride of place." 



