Evening journal., 1915-03-01
ANGLERS. GET BUSY!
SELECT material
Now Is the Proper Time to
Guard Against Purchase
of Poor Tackle

of Poor Tackle
SPLIT-BAMBO
IS MOST POPULAR
Albert Bigelow Paine, one-timo sec
retary for Mark Twain and author of
various humorous chronicles, some
time ago went on a trout fishing trip
in the modified wilderness Of Nova
Scotia, under the expert wing of Or.
Edward Breck. well known to every
reading sportsman as the author Of
the most comprehensive and undoubt-
edly the best manual on "the way of
the woods" yet produced
While convalescing from this trip
Mr.. Paine, being a literary man, OF
course wrote book about it, and he
called the book "The Tent Dwellers."
In the accepted Kipling manner. each
chapter of The Tent Dwellers" opens
with a bit of verse. All of these in
troductory quatrains are distinctly
clever, but particularly two of them
have always seemed to the writer to
be especially true of what may be
termed the winter habits of the curl
Gus tribe of understanding in this
instance. trout fishermen.
TO quote:
When Woods Are White.
Come shape your plans where the
fire is bright,
And the shimmering glasses are
When the woods are white in the win
ter's night.
Under the northern star"
And let us buy for the days of spring,
While yet the north winds blow.
For half the joy of the trip, my boy,
Is getting your traps to co.
Beyond the peradventure of a doubt
every good fly fisherman is "at this
time" as the almanacs say, shaping
his plans for this years open season.
and, if not actually getting his traps
to go, is at least planning what traps
he is to get In view of which. let
this business OF buying for the days
of spring, either by way of insurance
against possible disappointment
through i'll selection of tackle or per-
haps merely as a gentle reminder of
various desirable things which he who
seeks in the tackle shops may find.
Possibly your list of future tackle
purchases includes a new fly rod;
very possibly in fact because every
orthodox fly fisherman is constantly
requiring new rods with reasons val
id or even plausible. In this event
something might well be said about
the sort of rod most apt TO prove thor
oughly satisfactory for the average fy
fishing we have in the east In this
regard one must first decide upon the
material, length and weight Of the
rod.
In the matter of hy-rod material
for the work in hand | am positive
that the very best advice which can
be given the man in the market for
new rod is to avoid as a pest the fish
erman or the salesman who talks
up" to you the lily rod of either green
heart of bethabara.
One of the stock bits of advice TO
be found in all angling books is to
the effect that for a moderate price.
say $40 or SIS, you can get a better
rod in solid wood such as bethabara
or greenheart, than in split bamboo.
As far as the present writer Is con-
cerned. this theory exploded. or rath-
er simply fizzled out, good many
years ago.
It might have been true when first
promulgated. perhaps for while inn
mediately succeeding what might be
termed the Norris age of American
fly fshing-"Uncle Thad" wrote his
book for American anglers in 1864
but it is not so any moro.
The qualities one looks for in 2 sat-
isfactory fly-rod are lightness,
strength and residence.
At equal weights rods Of other
material cannot compete with the
split bamboo in residence and
strength.
Speaking generally of ny-rod
lengths and weights, it may be said
that the modern tendency is all for
light tackle. Progressive anglers have
discovered the undoubted utility,
hardness. and efficiency of the rela-
lively short and light rod Even the
/ ten-foot rod, only Z; short time ago
almost unanimously advised by ang-
/ lers and angling writer's. is now slow
ly but surely going into the discard
except for the very heaviest fishing.
It is generally believed by expert
dry-hy fishermen-and the demands
of the dry-fiy game are far more OK
acting upon the rod than is the case
in wet-fiy fishing-that a rod of nine
feet, rather stiffish than plant, is
plenty long enough.
And the wet-hy fisherman, or the
sportsman who uses either the wet OF
! dry-fy method as conditions may de-
termine, will find that a good split
bamboo fly-rod of eight and half OF
even eight feet is just about the hand
lest, sportiest and wholly satisfactory
trout fiy-rod he has ever handled
Such a rod will weigh from four ic
] four and a half ounces. IL will kill
the days big one without turning a
hair.
Very briefly with regard to details
sec that the rod mOuntings are Oi
| German silver, the ferrules water
proofed. serrateG and welted. The
guides should by all means be Of
the snake" pattern. The hand grasT
should be of ringed solid cork. moi
merely ycneered with a cork com.