The Angler’s Workshop. 
Fishing Rod Making for the Beginner 
By PERRY D. FRAZER 
X.—Bass and 
I F the beginner is determined to make an all¬ 
wood fly-rod before attempting to build one 
of split bamboo, the directions previously 
given for three-joint bait rods will apply here, 
with the exceptions that the joints must be made 
somewhat longer, the taper slower, and the reel- 
seat is placed below the hand. Straight-grained 
bethabara makes a nice fly-rod of medium 
weight, and dagama works well. 
It is scarcely advisable for the novice to begin 
his rodmaking on a split bamboo trout fly-rod 
of light weight, for the tips run so small that 
one can hardly expect to do creditable work 
on them at first. But bass fly rods of 6 j 4 or 7 
ounces are easier to build, and after you have 
had some experience with butts and joints, tip 
making will not present insurmountable diffi¬ 
culties. 
Below are given the calibers of three typical 
fly-rods that are excellent for fishing. They 
have seen hard service. All are hexagonal bam¬ 
boo. The handgrasps are solid cork, the - hand 
guides agate, the other guides of steel, snake- 
pattern, and the tops loose steel rings: 
Heavy Fly-Rod.— Length, 9 feet 8 inches; 
weight, 7 ounces. Joints, 39*4 inches long. 
Grasp, 9^2 inches long, inclusive of Y\ inch reel- 
seat. Ferrules, serrated, waterproof, 21-64 and 
13-64. Calibers: at taper, y 2 inch; 12 inches 
from butt, 7-16; 18 inches, 13-32; 2 feet, 25-64; 
2^ feet, Y & ; 3 feet, 23-64; 3K feet, 11-32; 4 
feet, 5-16; 4V2 feet, 19-64; 5 feet, 9-32; y/ 2 feer,' 
17-64; 6 feet, kC; ft/2 feet, 15-64; 7 feet, 3-16; 
7 J 4 feet, 11-64; 8 feet, 9-64; 8*4 feet, ]/&; 9 feet, 
7-64; at top, 5-64 inch. 
Medium Weight Fly-Rod.— Length, g'/ 2 feet: 
joints, 38^2 inches. Weight, 6 to 6*4 ounces. 
Grasp, 9 y 2 inches; reelseat, Y inch. Ferrules, 
serrated, waterproof, 19-64 and 3-16. Calibers: 
butt joint, at taper, 13-32; 1 foot from butt, 
25-64; 1 y 2 feet, 23-64; 2 feet, 11-32; 2R2 feet, 
21-64; 3 feet. 19-64. Middle joint, 6 inches, 
19-64; 1 foot, 9-32; 1J4 feet, 17-64; 2 feet, 15-64; 
2 y 2 feet, 7-32; 3 feet, 13-64. Tips, 6 inches, 
11-64; 1 foot, 5-32; 154 feet, 9-64; 2 feet, %; 
2J 4 feet, 7-64; 3 feet, 5-64. 
Trout Fly-Rod. —Length, 9 feet; joints, 3654 
inches. Weight, y/ 2 ounces with J^-inch metal 
reelseat; with reel bands instead, a little less 
than 5 ounces. Grasp, 9 inches long. Ferrules, 
serrated, waterproof, 9-32 and 11-64 inch. Cali¬ 
bers: butt joint, at taper, 7-16; 1 foot from butt, 
25-64; i *4 feet, 11-32; 2 feet, 21-64; 2^4 feet, 
5-16; 3 feet, 19-64. Middle joint, 6 inches, 9-32; 
1 foot, 17-64; i*4 feet, 15-64; 2 feet, 7-32; 254 
feet, 13-64; 3 feet, 3-16. Tips, 6 inches, 11-64; 
Trout Fly-Rods. 
1 foot, 5-32; 1J4 feet, %; 2 feet, 7-64; 2*4 feel, 
3-32; 3 feet, 5-64 inch. 
Ordinary sumach, obtainable in any thicket, is 
nicely adapted to use for light handgrasps where 
reel bands are to be used. It is greenish-yellow 
when varnished, but can be stained nicely to re 
semble cedar or cherry, then varnished. 
Tournament fly-rods are allowed Y of an 
ounce for metal reelseats; therefore a rod just 
under 4.Y ounces will be admitted to the four- 
ounce class, and one just under 5Y ounces to 
the five-ounce class if each has a metal reelseat. 
The length limit is nj4 feet. 
Five-ounce tournament rod^ are usually 10 
feet long and much stiffer than rods made ex¬ 
clusively for fishing, but they are pleasant to 
fish with, particularly on windy days, with a 
heavy double tapered line. 
Heavy single-hand tournament rods that are 
admitted to the open-to-all trout fly contests are 
limited only in length, to iiI 4 feet, but may be 
any weight. In the East these seldom weigh 
more than ioj4 ounces and are generally 11 feet 
long, but in the West 11 feet 5 inches is a 
favorite length and some rods weigh as much 
as 13 ounces. These are extremely stiff, and 
they are powerful enough to lift 100 or more 
feet of heavy oiled silk tapered line out of the 
water on the back cast. 
The grasps are 12 to 15 inches long, and the 
rods taper from about *4 inch at the grasp to 
7-64 at the top, with long and heavy split or 
serra led ferrules. These vary in caliber, but are 
about Yt, and y inch in diameter. The middle 
joint is heavy and tapers very little at the lower 
end. 
Salmon Fly-Rods. 
Since the earliest days of fly-fishing salmon 
fly-rods have been made of solid wood, and to¬ 
day, although split bamboo is largely used for 
all other fly-rods, there is a steady demand for 
solid wood salmon fly-rods. In Great Britain 
greenheart salmon rods are still the favorites 
with a vast number of the anglers, and it is 
likely wood rods will never be entirely replaced 
by those of split bamboo for salmon fishing. 
In America the demand for salmon rods is 
small, for comparatively few of our anglers go 
to the Northern and ’ Northeastern waters for 
these noble fish, and while those who prefer 
split bamboo rods for trout and bass fishing 
often wish to use rods of the same material 
when they fish for salmon, a great many favor 
wood rods. 
For tournament casting I prefer split bamboo 
to wood in all rods, but split bamboo salmon 
rods are very expensive and a well made wood 
rod will give its owner a great deal of satisfac¬ 
tion. Furthermore, it is not so difficult to make 
as some of the thinner fly-rods. 
In a rod whose length ranges from thirteen 
to eighteen feet and with a weight of 23 to '32 
ounces or more, stiffness in the rod requires 
muscle in the angler. To wield a stiff bamboo 
rod of 25 ounces and a long and heavy line dur¬ 
ing several hours’ fishing taxes the angler’s 
strength more than does a whippy rod of greater 
weight, and this is one reason why wood rods 
are peculiarly adapted to salmon fishing. A 
nicely proportioned wood rod has good action 
and with it a fly can be cast and fished with 
less exertion at ordinary salmon fly-casting dis¬ 
tances than is possible with the stiffer bamboo 
rod, hence anglers of small stature and average 
strength are likely to favor wood rods. 
Again, the split bamboo rod does not begin 
to work until a certain length of line is ex¬ 
tended ; that is, it requires the pull of a long 
line to make the rod spring properly. Without 
this spring the fly cannot be cast neatly at any 
distance. Flave you ever tried to cast a fly with 
a stiff bait rod ? You have sufficient power in 
the rod, but lack the weight of line that is neces¬ 
sary to get the -snap that sends the line in a roll¬ 
ing loop through the air. Try as hard as you 
like, you will never be able to cast a fly ten 
yards. The wood salmon rod is proportionately 
as flexible as the whippiest trout rod, therefore 
but little muscle and weight of line are necessary 
to develop its spring, and its user can cast lightly 
and sweetly at fifty feet or one hundred—for 
the rod does most of the work. 
In salmon fishing rods, great power is not of 
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Split-Bamboo Trout Fly-Rod. 
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Split-Bamboo Bass Fly-Rod. 
fig. 48. 
