For fly-fishing there is no rod like a well-made round, split bamboo; but to be well made, and no other is really worth having, a round eight-piece split bamboo is an expensive implement and costs a high price. But when well made it is not only a thing of beauty and a joy forever, but will stand an amount of exposure and hard work not to be obtained from inferior rods. It has not always been possible to obtain such implements in their perfection, as some manufacturers who have not had the necessary experience, or who in their anxiety to produce a cheap article have slighted their work, have given the split bamboo rods a bad name. They should be made from the upper part of the canes alone, as in that part the nodes which give them their strength are the thickest. The outside or glazed part of the cane should come on the outside of the rod, and the joints should be so perfect that they cannot be traced by the eye, as if there is the least opening water will get in and destroy the rod. While if thoroughly well finished, they are the best article of their kind, nevertheless greenheart, cedar and lancewood rods all have their admirers, and in skillful hands will do efficient work. Machine-made rods should be avoided by every angler who takes pride in his casting or his tools, no matter how cheap they are. The best proof of the superiority of the bamboo rod is the fact of its general use at all public tournaments where its power has been proved by a cast of over eighty feet with a four and a half ounce rod.
In giving the weight of a trout rod, it should be stated whether the ordinary mountings are included, as they make a difference of several ounces. The fly-rod that in a tournament would be called a four or five-ounce rod, would in the hands of the sportsman be found to weigh nine or ten ounces. When a weight is given in these pages, the full weight of mountings is intended, so that a nine-ounce rod is what the professionals would call a five-ounce rod.
Great strides have been made by professional fly-casters in the matter of length of cast since this book was first written. Then a cast of seventy feet was considered a very long reach, but now eighty-five feet have been cast with a rod of four and seven-eighths ounces, and eighty-seven feet with a twelve-ounce rod. The rods in these cases are heavy at the tip, and are not well adapted to ordinary fly-fishing and would soon tire out the strongest wrist. They are in all instances made out of split bamboo. In bass-casting, that is what is called Cuttyhunk fashion, the public trials have not been satisfactory, the casts not having been scored at much over one hundred and sixty feet. But there is no doubt that with the regulation weight of two and a half ounces, at least two hundred and twenty feet can be cast. To make very long casts with a fly, it is essential not only to have a stiff rod and to fasten on the droppers with short snells, but to put double gut at
O’SHAUGHNESSY FORGED HOOK.
SPROAT HOOK.
the head of the stretcher-fly. Moreover, the flies must not be allowed to sink, but must be retrieved immediately in order to get the line well out behind, which is the great difficulty in distance-casting. In actual fishing the angler is considered an expert who alone and unaided can strike, play and land a five-pound trout or a fifteen-pound salmon. Those are tests of skill that far exceed casting ninety feet in an open pond with a top-heavy rod.
Reels have kept up with the march of improvement in fishing tackle, and are now made much lighter and stronger than in days gone by. Hard rubber has taken the place of metal to a great extent, making the reel very much lighter. Aluminum has been tried, but, though very hard, it is a metal of poor texture, so that the screws do not hold, and the reels soon get loose and shaky, while at the same time it is expensive. There are several patented trout reels for getting large barrels to wind the line on quickly, or to expose it to the air so that it will not rot. Most of the fine reels are made of German silver, and with works as carefully constructed as those of a clock, for the striped bass reels must run with absolute perfection. A valuable invention of Messrs. Abbey & Imbrie provides for the adjustment of the bearings, so that any wear can be readily taken up, and the reel kept in good condition without expense. It consists of the use of steel-screw pivots easily adjusted, which reduce the friction to a minimum.