prefer Greenheart or Wasahba for tips, but lancewood or red cedar is
the best, I think.

The great fault in many rods is want of "back," which results from a
too slender butt. This produces a double action in the rod, and
prevents a clear satisfactory cast. In England this quality was made
a specialty for salmon rods some years ago, it being supposed that it
increased the length of the cast. Recent experiences proved this to
be a fallacious idea, and such a rod required quite an education to
use with any degree of accuracy.

If a man can throw a minnow thirty yards with any degree of accuracy,
he should be well satisfied, as that is more than sufficient for
average bass fishing.

A peculiar, but, I think, mistaken idea is that a rod should be in
proportion to a man's size. One can understand this idea in regard to
a gun for which a man should be measured as for a coat, but with a
rod it is different, and should be made to vary with the type of
fishing practised. The difference in weight being only a few ounces
exposes the foolishness of this theory. All that matters is the
question of balance; if that is all right, the size or weight matters
very little.

A more important point is, that a cheap rod is always a dear rod, in
price alone. As in anything else, work and quality of material go for
everything, and if a good sound rod is required, a fair price must be
paid to some good maker for it.

The line is a most important item, and it is always best to give a
good price for a hand made line turned out by a good firm. The
braided line to me is the perfection of excellence. I do not like a
tapered line at any price. Next to the silk line I prefer the silk
grass lines of the Japanese.

The finest hooks in the trade are made in England, where special
attention has been paid to this industry for over two hundred years,
the town of Redditch being supported almost exclusively by the hook
factories. The best are the "Sproat," "Cork-shaped Limerick," "Round
Bend Carlisle," and "Hollow Point Aberdeen." The hook is of the most
vital importance to the fisherman, and the best shape is that where
the point of the barb is turned round towards the shank. First class
hooks are always japanned or black; the inferior ones are blued, and
these, if subjected to a heavy strain will straighten right out. The
black bass is extremely liable to cause this, as it always struggles
hard both in and out the water from the moment of hooking t