Sharp County record., 1885-04-16
THE MODEL FlSHlNG-ROD.
A Study of Absorbing Interest to Dis
ciples of ISaak Walton

ever mdlcEIdl IL may DC LH''"O - AN'
Lancewood, greenheart, bethabara and
many other woods are capable OF being
converted into an excellent fy-rod, pro-
vided the material is good Of its kind,
and it has been fashioned by the hands
of a skilled workman. Rent and glued
or, as it is now more generally termed,
split bamboo unquestionably stands
first as material in the general estima'
ton of experts in this country. In the
fy-cashng tournaments held year after
year at Central Park in New York it has
gradually supp!anted all other kinds oil
rod, and certainly in it strength, light
ness, and that steely spring which is the
acme of perfection in a fy-rod are found
to a degree unequaled 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 a heXagon. The
rind of the bamboo is placed on the
outside, and is untouched in the manu-
facture, and since therein lie all the vir'
tues 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 i'm
ported into this country. No one IN the
least familiar with this bamboo can
have failed to remark these burns, al.
ways present, yet never alike. To the
split-bamboo rod-maker they are per-
feet nuisance, forcing them to reject al
together many cane otherwise excel
lent. So every one, surprised that SO
much labor should be expended merely,
so far as is apparent, to injure the cane
naturally ask why this is done.
Reasons are as plenty as blackberries,
and so, of course, there is no lack in
this case. Here are a few samples, as
signed by those who said they knew all
about it:
l. 1t is a religious ceremony.
9 They are roasted over large
gridiron to kill the larva of boring in.
sectS
3. 1t is merely for purpose of orna-
ment.
4. The bamboos grow in jungles
matted together with all manner Of
climbing and tenacious vines; before
they can be extricated the jungle must
be fired to destroy these creepers.
5. That the canes are roasted over a
gridiron to burn off 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 straighten them,
| have heard others, but these are
quite sufficient for a liberal exercise Of
personal prediction, my own being
toward combination of the reasons
numbered and 6.
Different specimens of every variety
of rod material vary greatly in excel
lence, one sample being good and an
other utterly worthless. Therein the
integrity of the rod-maker, and regard
for his reputation, are the only safe
guard to the purchaser. Therefore it
IS cheaper in the end to buy from the
maker himself or his recognized agent.
If they have reputation they will do
their best to maintain it. Anonymous
rods are like anonymous letters; they
may be unexceptionable, but usually
they are not. Above all things remem-
Der there are no 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 it is fastened. all will adj
NIT, are the desderata in a fly-rod;
strength to withstand the incidental
strain, and elasticity to recover on the
removal of the detection caused there
by being in all cases presumed.
1t needs no expert physicist to assure
lis that with two rods of equal weight,
and respectively 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 in
both cases, the longer arm, which is to
do the work, is greater than the latter.
Nay, further even though the shorter
rod exceed in actual weight, still it may
retain its superiority in this respect.
Killing power, and the ability to con,
troll the movements of the fish, depend
not on the length, but on the power OF
stiffness, of the rod; and this, other
things being equal, must be greater in
a ten than in twelve foot rod, since
the leverage against the controlling
power is less. H P. Wells, in Harper 5
Magazine.