But first for your Line. First note, that you are to take care that your hair be round and clear, and free from

a fault which the makers of rods are often guilty of; the consequence whereof is, that the rod is thereby made weaker at the joints than elsewhere; and there being no bark to repel the wet, it soon rots, and, whenever you hook a large fish, certainly breaks.

But if you live in the country, and are forced to make your own rods, take these directions:

Between the latter end of November and Christmas, when the sap is gone down into the roots of trees, gather the straitest hasels you can find, for stocks; and let them, at the greatest end, be about an inch or more in diameter: at the same time gather shoots of a less size, for middle pieces and tops: tie them together in a bundle, and let them lie on a dry floor: at the end of fifteen or sixteen months, match them together; and to the slender end of the tops, after cutting off about eight or ten inches, whip a fine taper piece of whalebone of that length: then cut the ends of the stock, the middle piece and the top, with a long slant, so that they may join exactly to each other; and spread some shoemaker's-wax, very thin, over the slants; bind them neatly with strong waxed thread; and lastly, fix a strong loop of horse-hair to the whalebone. Let the rod, so made, lie a week to settle, before you use it. In this manner, also, you are to make a flyrod; only observe that the latter must be much slenderer from the end of the stock, than the former.

But for the neatest fly-rod you can make, get a yellow whole-deal board that is free from knots, cut off about seven feet of the best end, and saw it into some square breadths: let a joiner plane off the angles, and make it perfectly round, a little tapering, and this will serve for the stock; then piece it to a fine strait hasel, of about six feet long, and then a delicate piece of fine-grained yew, planed round like an arrow, and tapering, with whale-bone, as before, of about two feet in length. There is no determining precisely the length of a fly-rod; but one of fourteen feet is as long as can be well managed with one hand. To colour the stock, dip a feather in aqua-fortis, and with your hand chafe it into the deal, and it will be of a cinnamon colour. But before you attempt this sort of work, you must be able to bind neatly, and fasten off; for which directions are given in the Notes on Chap. XVII.

When the season is over, and you have done with your rods, take them to pieces, and bind the joints to a strait pole, and let them continue so bound till the season returns for using them again. See more directions about the fly-rod, Part II. Chap. V.

Rods for Barbel, Carp, aud other large fish, should be of hasel, and proportionably stronger than those for Roach and Dace. And note, that for fly-fishing the bamboo-cane is excellent. Screws to rods are not only heavy, and apt to be out of repair, but they are absolutely unnecessary; and the common way of inserting one joint in another is sufficiently secure, if the work be true.

Our

galls, or scabs, or frets: for a well-chosen, even, clear, round hair, of a kind of glass-colour, will prove as strong as three uneven scabby hairs that are ill-chosen, and full of galls or unevenness. You shall seldom find a black hair but it is round, but many white are flat and uneven; therefore, if you get a lock of right, round, clear, glasscolour hair, make much of it.

And for making your line, observe this rule: first, let your hair be clean washed ere you go about to twist it; and then choose not only the clearest hair for it, but hairs that be of an equal bigness, for such do usually stretch all together, and break all together, which hairs of an unequal bigness never do, but break singly, and so deceive the angler that trusts to them.

When you have twisted your links, lay them in water for a quarter of an hour at least, and then twist them over again before you tie them into a line: for those that do

Our forefathers were wont to pursue even their amusements with great formality. An Angler of the last age must have his fishing-coat, which, if not black, was at least of a very dark colour; a black velvet cap, like those which jockies now wear, only larger; and a rod with a stock as long as a halbert: and thus equipped, would he stalk forth with the eyes of a whole neighbourhood upon him.

But in these later days, bag-rods have been invented, which the angler may easily conceal, and do not proclaim to all the world where he is going. Those for float-fishing are now become common; but this invention has lately been extended to rods for fly-fishing; and here follows a description of such a neat, portable, and useful one, as no angler that has once tried it will ever be without.

Let the joints be four in number, and made of hiccory, or some such very tough wood, and two feet four inches in length, the largest joint not exceeding half an inch in thickness. The top must be bamboo shaved. And for the stock, let it be of ash, full in the grasp, of an equal length with the other joints; and with a strong ferrule at the smaller end, made to receive the large joint, which must be well shouldered, and fitted to it with the utmost exactness.

This rod will go into a bag, and lie very well concealed in a pocket in the lining of your coat, on the left side, made strait on purpose to receive it.

not so shall usually find their line to have a hair or two shrink, and be shorter than the rest, at the first fishing with it, which is so much of the strength of the line lost for want of first watering it and then re-twisting it; and this is most visible in a seven-hair line, one of those which hath always a black hair in the middle1.

And for dyeing of your hairs, do it thus: take a pint of

(1) Your line, whether it be a running-line, or for float-fishing, had best be of hair; unless you fish for Barbel, and then it must be of strong silk. And the latter [the line for float-fishing] must be proportioned to the general size of the fish you expect; always remembering that the single hair is to be preferred for Roach or Dace-fishing. But the fly-line is to be very strong; and, for the greater facility in throwing, should be eighteen or twenty hairs at the top, and so diminishing insensibly to the hook. There are lines now to be had at the fishing-tackle shops that have no joints, but wove in one piece.

But notwithstanding this and other improvements, perhaps some may still choose to make their own lines. In which case, if they prefer those twisted with the fingers, they need only observe the rules given by the author for that purpose. But, for greater neatness and expedition, I would recommend an engine lately invented, which is now to be had at almost any fishing-tackle shop in London: it consists of a large horizontal wheel and three very small ones, inclosed in a brass box about a quarter of an inch thick, and two inches in diameter; the axis of each of the small wheels is continued through the under-side of the box, and is formed into a hook: by means of a strong screw it may be fixed in any post or partition, and is set in motion by a small winch in the centre of the box.

To twist links with this engine, take as many hairs as you intend each shall consist of, and, dividing them into three parts, tie each parcel to a bit of fine twine, about six inches long, doubled, and put through the aforesaid hooks; then take a piece of lead, of conical figure, two inches high, and two in diameter at the base, with a hook at the apex or point; tie your three parcels of hair into one knot, and to this, by the hook, hang the weight.

Lastly, take a quart, or larger, bottle-cork; and cut into the sides, at equal distances, three grooves; and placing it so as to receive each division of hair, begin to twist: you will find the link begin to twist with great evenness at the lead; as it grows tighter, shift the cork a little upwards; and when the whole is sufficiently twisted, take out the cork, and tie the link into a knot; and so proceed till you have twisted links sufficient for your line, observing to lessen the number of hairs in each link in such proportion as that the line may be taper. See the engine, Plate C. Fig. 7. Fig. 8. is the form of the cork.

When

strong ale, half a pound of soot, and a little quantity of the juice of walnut-tree leaves, and an equal quantity of alum; put these together into a pot, pan, or pipkin, and boil them half an hour; and having so done, let it cool; and being cold, put your hair into it, and there let it lie; it will turn your hair to be a kind of water or glass colour, or greenish; and the longer you let it lie, the deeper coloured it will be. You might be taught to make many other colours, but it is to little purpose; for doubtless the

When you use the fly, you will find it necessary to continue your line to a greater degree of fineness: in order to which, supposing the line to be eight yards in length, fasten a piece of three or four twisted links, tapering till it becomes of the size of a fine grass; and to the end of this fix your hook-link, which should be either of very fine grass, or silk-worm gut. A week's practice will enable a learner to throw one of these lines; and he may lengthen it, by a yard at a time, at the greater end, till he can throw fifteen yards neatly; till when he is to reckon himself but a novice.

For the colour, you must be determined by that of the river you fish in but I have found that a line of the colour of pepper and salt, when mixed, will suit any water.

Many inconveniencies attend the use of twisted [open] hairs for your hook-line: see Part II. Chap. V. Silk-worm gut is both fine and very strong; but then it is apt to fray; though this may, in some measure, be prevented by waxing it well.

Indian, or sea-grass, makes excellent hook lines; and though some object to it, as being apt to grow brittle, and to kink in using, with proper management it is the best material for the purpose yet known, especially if ordered in the following manner.

Take as many of the finest you can get, as you please: put them into any vessel; and pour therein the scummed fat of a pot, wherein fresh, but by no means salt meat has been boiled: when they have lain three or four hours, take them out one by one, and, stripping the grease off with your finger and thumb (but do not wipe them) stretch each grass as long as it will yield; coil them up in rings, and lay them by; and you will find them become near as small, full as round, and much stronger than the best single hairs you can get. To preserve them moist, keep them in a piece of bladder well oiled; and before you use them let them soak about half an hour in water; or, in your walk to the river-side, put a length of it into your mouth. If your grass is coarse, it will fall heavily in the water, and scare away the fish; on which account gut has the advantage. But after all, if your grass be fine and round, it is the best thing you can use.

water-colour or glass-coloured hair is the most choice and most useful for an angler, but let it not be too green.

But if you desire to colour hair greener, then do it thus: take a quart of small ale, half a pound of alum; then put these into a pan or pipkin, and your hair into it with them; then put it upon a fire, and let it boil softly for half an hour; and then take out your hair, and let it dry; and having so done, then take a pottle of water, and put into it two handfuls of marigolds, and cover it with a tile or what you think fit, and set it again on the fire, where it is to boil again softly for half an hour, about which time the scum will turn yellow; then put into it half a pound of copperas, beaten small, and with it the hair that you intend to colour; then let the hair be boiled softly till half the liquor be wasted, and then let it cool three or four hours, with your hair in it: and you are to observe, that the more copperas you put into it, the greener it will be; but doubtless the pale green is best. But if you desire yellow hair, which is only good when the weeds rot, then put in more marigolds; and abate most of the copperas, or leave it quite out, and take a little verdigris instead of it. This for colouring your hair.

And as for painting your rod, which must be in oil, you must first make a size with glue and water, boiled together until the glue be dissolved, and the size of a lye-colour : then strike your size upon the wood with a bristle, or a brush or pencil, whilst it is hot: that being quite dry, take white-lead, and a little red-lead, and a little coal+ black, so much as altogether will make an ash-colour; grind these altogether with linseed oil; let it be thick, and lay it thin upon the wood with a brush or pencil: this do for the ground of any colour to lie upon wood.

For a green, take pink and verdigris, and grind them together in linseed-oil, as thin as you can well grind it: