The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1885-08-13
The Model fishing-rod.

|
The rod should be of the best, whatever
material it may be made from. Lakewood,
greenheart, bethabara. and many other woods
are capable of being converted into an excellent
! fy-rod, provided the material is good Of its
kind. and it has been fashioned by the hands of
skilled workman. Rent and glued-or, as it
is now more generally termed, split-bamboo
unquestionably stands first as material in the
general estimation of experts In this country.
In the fiy-casting tournaments held year after
year at Central Park In New York it has grad
ually supplanted all other kinds of rod, and
certainly In it strength, lightness, and that
steely spring which is the acme of perfection
In tly-rod are found to degree unequalled In
any other known material.
These rods are made by gluing six strips of
! Calcutta bamboo together in such way that a
cross section of the completed rod forms hex
agon The rind of the bamboo is placed on the
outside, and is untouched in the manufacture,
since therein lie all the virtues that the material
possesses.
The variety of bamboo used for this purpose
may be distinguished by the charred marks on
its yellow cuticle, without which none seems
to be imported into this country. No one in
the least familiar with this bamboo can have
failed 10 remark these burns, always present,
yet never alike. To the split-bambOo rod-mak-
er they are perfect nuisance forcing him to
| lent. 50 every one. surprised that SO much
labor should be expended merely, as far as is
apparent, TO injure the cane, naturally asks
why this is done.
Reasons are as plenty as backberries, and so,
of course. there is no lack In this case. Here
are few samples, assigned by those who said
they knew all about it.
l. 1t is IA religious ceremony.
.. They are roasted over a large gridiron to
Kill the larvae or boring insects.
is X for a,fn
4. The bambOos grow in jungles matted to-
gether with all manner of climbing and tena-
cious vines; before they can be eXtrcated the
jungle must be fired to destroy these creepers.
.. That the canes are roasted over gldiron
| to burn OIL the leaves and creepers attached to
them, as the most simple and expeditions way
to get rid of them.
6. That it is done with hot iron each cane
being treated separately. merely to sraighten
| them.
| have heard others, but these are quite suf-
icient for a liberal exercise of personal predi-
lection, my own being toward combination OF
the reasons numbered and 6.
Different specimens of every variety of rod
material vary greatly in excellence. one sample
being good and another utterly worthless
Therein the integrity of the rod-maker, and re-
gard for bis reputation, are the only safeguards
| to the purchaser. Therefore 1t is cheaper in
the end to buy from the maker himself, or his
recognized agent If they have a reputation
| tlltN VIII uo tnciT Dtst 10 MAINTAIN II. Anon
lmOus rods are like anonymous letters; they
may be unexceptionable, but usually they are
not. Above all things remember there are nc
bargains in fishing tackle. If an article is
cheap in price, it is almost invariably cheap in
quality as well.
Comfort in use, efficiency in casting the fly
and power to control and land the fish after i,
is fastened, all will admit, are the desiderata in
a fy-rod; strength to withstand the incdenta
strain, and elasticity to recover on the remova
of the detection caused thereby, being In al
eases presumed.
1t needs no expert physicist to assure us thai
with Two rods of equal weight, and respective
ly ten and twelve feet long, the former will
occasion far less fatigue than the latter since
while the shorter arm of the lever is equal il
both cases, the longer arm, which is to do the
work. is greater in the latter. Nay, further
even though the shorter rod exceed in actua
weight, still it may retain its superiority IN thi
respect.
Killing power, and the ability TO control the
moveme hts OF the fish, depend not on the length
but on the power or stiffness, of the rod anC
this, other things being equal, must be greater
i'll ten than i'll a twelve foot rod, since tn,
leverage against the controlling power is less
llarper's Magazine.