8 g8 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[June 8, 1907. 
Light Tackle Sea Fishing.—II. 
While on the subject of rods I might as well 
give for what they are worth the results of my 
own experiments and observations. 
While fishing for albacore the first winter I 
used by preference a seven-foot, sixteen-ounce 
noibwood rod. The weight was largely in the 
long, heavy butt, the tip- was light and flexible 
and the action exceedingly pretty. The rod was 
too heavy for the line, but all my light rods 
were-of fresh water proportions, mostly bait-cast¬ 
ing rods with handles so short they cramped one 
during a long struggle. It was not at all diffi¬ 
cult to land an albacore with a 6j4-ounce split 
bamboo bait-casting rod. but the handle below the 
reel was so short that the belt socket could not 
be used in working the'fish, nor could the butt 
be conveniently braced against the body, hence 
the work was very fatiguing. 
The light tackle record that year was a 31- 
pound yellowtail on an 8-ounce 614-foot split 
bamboo casting rod; time, 1 hour and 15 minutes. 
The lifting power of the slender tip was so slight 
that it required time to get the fish in. 
It was quite apparent that rods should be es¬ 
pecially designed for light tackle sea fishing, as 
they had been for fresh water bait-casting. For 
years the tendency in the manufacture of fresh 
water rods’has been to reduce weight of butts or 
handles as compared with strength of all above 
handle. With sea rods the tendency has been in 
the reverse direction. Tips. so. called, meaning 
all above the heavy butt, have been lightened 
and the butts enormously increased in length and 
size until the butt of the average tuna or tarpon 
rod is 24 or more inches long and weighs a 
pound or more, a veritable club. For light tackle 
sea fishing it is important to reduce the length 
and weight of the butt'to a minimum and trans¬ 
fer the strength to the tip. 
My specifications for 1906 called for a butt of 
nine inches weighing 2 Y\ to 3 ounces; cork handle 
of about 5 inches; no grip above the reel; a tip 
of 5 feet 3 inches weighing not to exceed 6 
ounces. My noibwood rods were made in sets 
o,f three tips—no joints—to one butt, and the 
different sets ran from 7 T 4 to 9 ounces. I found 
the eight and nine ounce tips pleasantest in 
action. The butt proved- too short for comfort. 
Whether a belt were used or the butt rested 
against the body, as one must rest it occasionally 
in a long fight, the shortness of the handle below 
the reel with no grip above, cramped the hands. 
Furthermore, the small metal reel seat meant 
extra weight and did not always take the reels 
of different makes. 
For this season. 1907, my rods are made at 
lea^t six inches longer, 6)4 feet, butt 12 inches, 
with a two-inch cork grip above reel; reel seat 
of wood, total weight of butt not exceeding 3 
ounces; weight of tips from 5 to 6 ounces. 
A 12-inch butt is amply long for any man with 
a reasonably strong hand, and it works well 
either with belt or against the body; the small 
grip above reel is a great convenience. 
The strength and stiffness of a rod depends 
upon the material of which and the manner in 
which it is made. Of two split bamboo rods of 
precisely the same weight and substantially the 
same proportions, one may exhibit three times 
the lifting strength of the other. I have one set 
of split bamboo rods 8[4 ounces 6 r /2 feet long, 
which easily lift over four pounds pin fact, these 
rods are too stiff for a nine-thread line; they 
would easily take care of a twelve. Another 
set of split bamboo rods, of nine ounces, slightly 
differently proportioned, show a lifting power 
of less than two pounds, and many a nine-ounce 
rod will not lift a pound with safety. 
All rod tests, unless otherwise specified, are 
made with the line kept at right angle to the 
butt. In other words, given a rod, the butt of 
which is fixed in a horizontal position, what 
weight can be put on a line dropping straight 
down from the tip ? 
The exact breaking strain can be ascertained 
only by destroying the rod, therefore all figures 
here given show tests well within the strength 
of the several rods. They show approximately 
the lifting power of the rods when the fish is 
beneath the boat and the butt is held horizontally 
to the perpendicular line. A rod never remains 
in that position. As the fisherman lowers the 
tip-rapidly in recovering line, the angle of rod 
and line may become very obtuse. If the fish 
is at some distance away from boat and near 
surface the rod may for a moment lie along line 
and point with it. In that case all the strain is 
transferred to line ‘and reel and the fish may be 
checked to the limit of ’the line; that is, a pres¬ 
sure of eighteen pounds may be exerted. It is 
the lowering of the r'od and the judicious use of 
this strength of the line which enables the skill¬ 
ful light tackle fisherman to ‘.‘kill" (exhaust) a 
large game fish comparatively -quickly. The man 
who relies upon his rod, keeping it high up in 
the air all the time, may tire himself before he 
sees his fish. Fishing with heavy tackle, with 
the butt of the rod planted firmly in a socket on 
the seat, necessitates the use of a very stiff rod, 
since most of the time the tip is kept high in 
the air with the line at a very acute angle, a try¬ 
ing position for the rod. 
The light tackle fisherman finds, it far more 
convenient to stand to his work and drop the rod 
more or less to the rushes of the fish. Seldom 
does he so raise the tip that the line runs at a 
very acute angle. A slight difference in the angle 
at which rod (the angle is figured from position 
of butt, not tip which describes, of course, a 
curve) is- held with reference to line makes • a 
vast difference in strain; for instance, a rod 
which lifts easily four pounds with butt at right 
angle will exert a strain of ten pounds if line is 
carried out a little straighter, say 45 degrees 
more, while if tip is suddenly raised to a very 
acute angle the rod will not lift one pound. In 
short, the pressure on the fish depends upon how 
the angler angles, in both senses of the term. 
If rod and line are properly balanced the one 
will break as quickly as the other under ordi¬ 
nary usage. While the lifting strength of a flexi¬ 
ble 9-ounce rod may be less than 2 pounds and 
the breaking test of a nine-strand line is 18 
pounds, the rod will easily part the line against 
the rushes of a game fish. Per contra, unless 
carefully handled it is easy to break the rod. 
The following tests fairly show the lifting 
power of different rods, the line in each instance 
being at a right angle to the butt: 
Will safely 
Lift— 
Pounds. 
fin. oz. split-bamboo casting rod, 6 V 2 feet...... % 
8 oz. split-bamboo casting rod, feet. 
16 oz. split-bamboo sea rod, 7)4 feet........ 4 
81/2 oz. , split-bamboo rod made to specifications 
(1907) for light tackle sea fishing, 6 % feet....-4 
7 oz. noibwood, 7(4 feet.. 114 
8 oz. noibwood, 714 feet. 1 % 
9 oz. noibwood, 6 feet. 214 
12 oz. greenheart, 6 feet.%. 4 
These results will vary slightly with different 
rods or even the same make, and they will vary 
greatly with rods of different makes. 
The fish may part the line; it is the fisherman 
who breaks the rod. The angler may be obliged 
to sacrifice his line in trying to stop the fish and 
at the same time save his rod, but if he breaks 
his rod it is always and everlastingly his own 
fault. He may look at his boatman, find fault 
with the rod or swear at the fish, but the fact re¬ 
mains the man who breaks a rod, breaks .it. 
Whether over his knee or on a fish matters not. 
The rod 1 is part of the angler. It is his arm, 
his hand, *his long first finger. To break it is 
semi-suicidal. 
It may be urged by way of excuse that no 
man knows the strength of a rod until it does 
break. Quite true; no man knows, but every 
fisherman feels the strength of his rod and 
handles it accordingly. A man may change from 
a fine to an inferior rod of same size and weight. 
Instinctively he subjects the latter to far less 
strain. Outwardly there may be nothing to in¬ 
dicate that it is weaker. To the casual observer 
it may even look stronger, but the practiced hand 
seldom makes a mistake, even to the subconscious 
discovery of flaws which do not show. 
While the rules of the Light Tackle Club per¬ 
mit rods weighing as high as 16 ounces, few peo¬ 
ple use them. Not only does the allowance on 
the weight of the catch work in favor of the 
lighter rods, but the heavier are clumsy in action 
and tend to part the line. The nine-ounce rod 
is the favorite, with a strong tendency this sea¬ 
son to even lighter or longer, or both in fine 
split bamboo. 
The six-foot length was adopted as a minimum 
to accommodate fishermen who happened to have 
six foot bait-casting rods. It was a mistake, for 
6 t / 2 is short enough. A 6-foot rod of 9 ounces 
can be made altogether too stiff for pleasure. 
The action of the rod in playing a fish is no 
small part of the pleasure of fishing. Another 
season the writer will try a 7-foot 8-ounce fine 
split bamboo. A noib of 6p2 feet, 8 to 9 ounces, 
makes a fine active rod. I landed the 43-pound 
yellowtail with one after about an hour and a 
quarter’s work, during which we followed the 
fish something over a mile. 
This fish would have been the record of its 
kind for 1906 had it not been for an unhappy cir¬ 
cumstance. My boatman was holding the rod 
and reeling in when the big one struck. I had 
two rods out,'not for the purpose of getting more 
fish, but to experiment with different baits and 
lines. As a matter of fact, fewer large fish are 
landed with one man trying to handle twowods. 
but the number of strikes show which bait or 
lure is the more attractive, and while I was 
after a record yellowtail I was also interested 
in definitely settling certain questions regard¬ 
ing baits. 
For more than a week we had been camping 
at the Isthmus fishing for a gold button yellow¬ 
tail. We had caught no end of fish ranging from 
20 to 35 pounds, but no 39-pounder. The fishing 
had been poor all the afternoon, not a strike off 
Johnson's where we usually hooked two or three 
big opes. About 6 o’clock on our way back to the 
Isthmus we made two o'r three turns about Eagle 
Bank more from habit than with any expectation 
of getting a strike, for there were no small fish 
breaking the surface, no signs of food_ for the 
large ones. One rod was in a holder with a 
sardine on the hook, the other in hand baited 
with a flying'fish. .We were moving slowly 
Gray is past-master of the art of so handling his 
launch that the bait trolling 125 feet astern will 
skirt the edge of the kelp without getting caught 
We had made our last turn along the bank' and 
were just heading for camp when, whirr! the 
handle of the reel on the rod in the holder began 
to spin. -With a quick turn of his wheel Gray 
headed away from the kelp. I picked up the 
set rod and handed him the other to reel in 
quickly. He had taken in about half the line 
when he exclaimed, ‘‘I’ve got a strike. ’ 
By this time I could tell that my fish amounted 
to nothing, and as the other rod was _ far the 
more, valuable I quickly changed, at the same time 
remarking: 
“If this should prove a 40-pounder, Gray, one 
of us will have to take to the woods and do 
some tall swearing.” 
There was nothing to indicate the fish was a 
