The Angler’s Workshop. 
Fishing Rod Making for the Beginner 
By PERRY D. FRAZER 
III. — Materials — Continued. 
I HAVE heard it said that dagama is at its best 
in a moist climate, and is therefore peculiarly- 
adapted to use on salt water; that it becomes 
somewhat “brash” in dry climates, like hickory. 
I regret that my personal experience with the 
wood is confined -to regions near the sea level, 
and that I cannot affirm or deny this statement. 
Hickory, I know, although exceedingly tough and 
resilient as a rule, failed completely when used 
for the long whip stocks of the old-time stage 
< coach and army ambulance drivers in the dry 
regions of the Southwest. Although soaked 
with oil, they were totally unreliable after dry¬ 
ing out, and would snap short off like reeds. 
Bait-casting rods are not used in such dry 
regions as a rule, however, and it is therefore 
safe to dismiss the matter. 
The late Henry P. Wells was one of the first 
angling writers to mention dagama, and he 
praised it very highly, both in the first edition 
of his “Fly-Rods and Fly Tackle,” which was 
published in 1885, and in the second edition, 
which appeared in 1901. Of dagama he said: . 
“Compared with a stick of approved green- 
heart of equal size the dagama showed no in¬ 
feriority that I could detect, while it was cer¬ 
tainly much lighter. * * * I have made and 
used several rods made of dagama, and have 
seen many made by others. If well selected and 
well seasoned, as a rod wood it is difficult to 
equal, much less excel, as far as my experience 
goes. It is very strong, very elastic, consider¬ 
ably lighter than any wood I know of which 
has equal strength, and works with a keen tool 
in a way that is simply a delight.” 
The late John Harrington Keene favored four 
varieties of wood for rods, after split bamboo. 
These were snakewood, lancewood, greenheart 
and bethabara. Snakewood, in his opinion, was 
the best where weight was not important, as for 
bait-casting rods. “It is,” said he, “one of the 
most satisfactory woods to work that I know, 
cutting smoothly and without apparent grain, 
and coming out from the plane with a surface 
like ivory for smoothness. Greenheart is a much 
harsher wood to work, but if the tool is keen it 
works fairly well. For fly-rods it is one of the 
best woods I know, being of medium weight and 
great stiffness.” 
Of dagama Mr. Keene said: “While it is 
tough, it lacks the rigidity of lancewood and is 
inferior to it for rodmaking. Lancewood, which 
if well selected, is a most desirable wood for 
rods, is one of the easiest woods to work, has 
little visible grain and cuts smoothly.” 
It seems, however, that Mr. Keene’s opinion 
of split bamboo changed after he came to the 
United States to live, for when he wrote “Fish¬ 
ing Tackle, its Materials and Manufacture,” 
(London, 1886), he said: “The jungle canes 
are of Asian growth, and are chiefly utilized 
for the glued-up cane rods which are so popular 
—rather undeservedly, I think.” 
At that time Mr. Keene pronounced green¬ 
heart “the very best all round material for all 
the joints except the butt of fishing rods of what¬ 
soever description.” 
Curiously enough, he says “the beautifully mot¬ 
tled appearance of a well finished cane rod is 
produced by staining' the wood with aqua fortis 
and nut galls. The stain is burned in imme¬ 
diately it is put on.” Evidently, if this was 
true, the rodmakers of that time used other 
canes and attempted in this way to imitate the 
Calcutta canes. 
Lancewood is used more than any other 
material for all-wood rods in America, although 
it does not seem to be very much used abroad 
at present. In England greenheart is more of 
a favorite, but over there more attention is given 
to combinations than here. For example, 
hickory is frequently used for butt joints in high 
grade rods, whereas on this side of the water 
it is put into no rods save the cheapest ones, or 
imitations of bethabara or some other wood, 
stained. Over there, too, whole cane butts and 
even middle joints, with greenheart tips, are 
common, while as a rule we stick to one material 
throughout the rod. 
Frederic M. Halford, in his book, “Dry-fly 
Fishing” (London, 1902), says of American fly- 
rods that, judging from those he has seen, they 
“are too whippy for our insular ideas and seem 
generally to lack backbone. They are also rather 
light in the point, the effect of which is to ren¬ 
der it difficult if not impossible to recover a long 
line with them. The fashion of the present day 
is to use a rod that is slightly topheavy, and 
although this is more trying on the wrist, yet, 
considering all points, is a fault the right way.” 
His preference then was for a rod 9 j 4 to 11 
feet long, so it must be assumed that he referred 
to American rods of light weight. This seeips 
to be true, for he quotes Francis Francis who, 
in his “Book on Angling,’ 1 told of making a cast 
of twenty-six yards with a ioj 4 foot rod. No 
American five-ounce rod of the present time 
would be accepted as a gift if it failed to lay out 
seventy-eight feet, and the average six-ounce rod, 
in the hands of an angler of ordinary skill, will 
send the fly yards further, if the need arises. 
Mr. Halford says there are only three materials 
worth considering: split cane, greenheart and 
whole cane, in the order given. Aside from its 
fault of occasionally snapping off short, he likes 
greenheart, but gives double enamel split cane 
the preference. 
I quote Mr. Halford at some length, for of all 
modern English angling literature his books on 
“Dry-fly Fishing,” “Dry-fly Entomology” and 
others, and his numerous papers in The Field 
are, to me at least, the most impressive. Among 
other things his clearness of expression and his 
habit of giving more than full credit to his 
friends for angling hints show his sincerity and 
fairness. 
But Mr. Halford had no patience with steel- 
centered rods; in fact, he sayd’ that the contro¬ 
versy in the English press anent the inventor of 
the method was a waste of ink and paper, as 
steel-centered rods were of no practical use. 
“Consider,” says he, “the effect of rigidly fas¬ 
tening the two materials together. The one with 
the quicker action must of necessity tend to hurry 
the slower material, and the one with the slower 
action must equally of necessity tend to retard 
the action of the quicker material. What must 
be the effect? A tendency to disintegrate their 
union. For me,” he continues, “they have not 
cast better; they haye not cast more easily; they 1 
have not cast more accurately, than the ordinary 
split cane by the same maker. They are certainly 
more tiring to the wrist, and when killing a fish 
I do not think that they give any real accession 
of power.” 
In 1889 Hardy Brothers employed an engineer 
who tested specimens used in rodmaking. AH 
were 24 inches long, .32 of an inch in diameter 
for round rods arid .16 of an inch on each sid- 
of the triangular sections of glued-up hexagona 
rods. The tests were for resilience, deflection 
number of vibrations before coming to rest wit! 
various weights, .specific gravity and breaking 
strain. The best results obtained, in the order 
given, follow: double enamel glued cane, stee 
centered; double enamel glued cane; hexagona 
glued cane, steel center; hexagonal glued cane 
greenheart, built up; hickory built up; rourn 
greenheart; lancewood. 
In theory at least it would seem that in a rot 
wound with narrow steel wires, these woulc; 
constantly shift with the spring of the rod, re 
laxing in hot weather and contracting on col( 
days, the general effect being to shear winding 
and varnish, and to rust. Certain it is that on 1 
of the British firms which adopted steel ribbin} 
some years ago, now advocates a braided sill 
sheath to cover the steel. 
A Frenchman has made rods in which fla 
steel strips have been let into the wood, and nv 
impression is that a British manufacturer ha 
adopted the invention. 
Some years ago a Scotchman invented a sitni 
lar method, but he used fine piano wires instea< 
one being let into each of the six strips am 
wound with silk. Unfortunately he died befor 
succeeding in his efforts to interest a manufac 
turer in his work. 
Lancewood is more easily obtainable thai 
