The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-04-11
THE MODEL FIsHlNo-Rop.
A Study Of Absorbing Interest to Die
ciples Of Isaak Walton.

THE MODEL FISHlN0-ROD.
Study Of Absorbing Interest to Dis
ciples Of Isaak Walton.
The rod should be of the best what.
ever material it may be made from.
Lakewood greenheart, bethskara and
many other woods are capable of being
converted into an excellent 1y-rod, pro-
vided the material is good of its kind,
and 10 has Been fashioned by the hands
IS skilled workman. Hnt and glued
or, as il is now more generally termed.
split bamboo unquestionably stands
frss as a material in the general estima-
ton of experts in this country. In the
f1y-casting tournaments held year after
year at Central Park in New York it has
gradually supplanted all other kinds Of
rod. and certainly in it strength, light
ness, and that steely spring which is the
acme of perfection in fiy-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 a way that a cross section of the
completed rod forms 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 inn
ported into this country. No one in the
least familiar with this bamboo car
have failed to remark these burns, al
ways present, yet never alike. To the
split-bamboo rod-maker they are a per.
feet nuisance, forcing them to reject al.
together many cane otherwise excel
lent. So every one, surprised that sc
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 q few samples, as
signed by those who said they knew al
about it:
l. 1t is religious ceremony.
2. They are roasted over large
gridiron to kill the larv@ of boring in
sects.
8. 1t is merely for purpose of orna
ment.
4. The bamboos grow in jungle.
matted together with all manner O
climbing and tenacious vines; before
they can be extricated the Jungle mus
be fired to destroy these creepers.
5. That the canes are roasted over ,
gridiron to burn off the leaves ant
creepers attached to them, as the mos
simple and expeditions way to get rio
of them.
6. That it is done with hot iron
each cane being treated separately
merely to straighten them,
/ have heard others, but these ar,
quite sufficient for liberal exercise O
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. There tn,
integrity of the rod maker, and regart
for his reputation, are the only safe
guard to the purchaser. Therefore i
is cheaper in the end to buy from the
maker himself or his recognized agent
If they have reputation they will d.
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 qualit,
as well.
Comfort in use, efficiency in casting
the fly, and power to control and Lane
the fish after it is fastened. all will ad
NIT, are the desiderata in q fiy-rod
strength to withstand the incidenta
strain, and elasticity to recover on tn
removal of the DETECTION caused there
by being in all cases presumed.
1t needs no expert physicist to assur
us that with two rods of equal weight
and respectively ten and twelve fee
long, the former will occasion far les
fatigue than the latter, since while tn
shorter arm of the lever is equal il
both cases, the longer arm, which is t.
do the work, is greater than the latter
Nay, further, even though the shorte
rod exceed in actual weight, still it ma,
retain its superiority in this respect
Killing power, and the ability to con
troll the movements of the fish, Deepen,
not on the length, but on the power q
stiffness, of the rod; and this, othe
things being equal, must be greater il
ten than in a twelve foot rod, sine
the leverage against the controlling
power is less. II. p Wells, in Harper
MU0Qziue.