ANGLING NOTES.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14406, 13 July 1912, Page 4

ANGLING NOTES.

REPAIRS

(By "Iron Blub.")

(specially written for "the pkess.")

The proper time for repairing-work is immediately the need of it occurs, but for one reason or another it seldom happens that the thing is done out of hand. We find a substitute with which we can, make-do, and buy a fresh supply, and the strained or broken tackle is put away until it is almost forgotten. Say "d " and stuff it in a drawer is apparently the usual course, and gradually a whole stock accumulates that only requires a little mending to mako it useful as ever. Then aonio the winter' evenings, which are tho second best opportunity for tho necessary work, and if Henry is anywherehandy, one can get him in to help, or perhaps hinder, and have a little fireside fishing at tho samo time. A trace is brought out, smashed at tho lower swivel, and while tying on & new length of gut you murmur gently, ".Never could understand why that broke; I hardly struck him at all." "The way you struck him would have broken anything," says Henry truth;fulßy, as,he fills a,fresh pipe; and at the end of his lecture you know exactly all that- you should have done, and probably' half-a-dozen others' havo been caught over again. Fly-tops are nearly certain to appear among the things needing repairs, and when these have been sorted apart, it generally happens that another is remembered which was put- carefully in a irod bag, with a resolve to mend it that same night on your arrival at home. Chiefly, these tops are suffering from the afflictions of a broken point, a top ring that has worn through, or in rare cases they are broken off short at tho ferrule. This last is the most serious ill, «o we will treat it first. In <m American rod it is likely that the/ ferrule is fastened on with cement, when, by turning it in the flame of a< candle the cement is melted, and the ferrule can be twisted easily from the piece of wood. Then tho remaining length.of the top is trimmed up with a file, so that it will fit into the ferrule, and after smearing the wood with marine glue or cement, both ferrule and -wood are heated and fitted together- Tho ferrules on English rods are generally secured by pins driven flush into the metal, and if the rod is an old one, the pins are often difficult to distinguish from the rest. When they have been found, the best plan is to drive them right in, and after making everything fit, some ordinary pins, can be filed off to take their place. A worn top ring is easily copied and replaced with a piece of wire, coiled on a pencil to the required shape. If the right kind of wire is lacking, the harmless necessary hairpin will find yet another use.

A smash in the middle of a joint is a. more troublesome business for it must be sphced. The broken ends are cut with a sharp knife in a long slant, so that each overlaps the other, for as much more than an inch as the grain of the wood -null allow. The overlapping onds must be scraped and smoothed to fit perfectly, and form an even join throughout their length. It is, a tiresome job and rather difficult to explain; but sever a twig with a long slanting cut, and on laying the severed ends upon each other, you will RGG the kind of join that is wanted. The sloped surfaces of the pieces to be joined are covered with cement and held firmly for a moment until they stick, and the repair-is finished with a lapping of strong silk over all, and then a coat of varnish. To make the neatest job of the lapping, take a few turne over one end in the usual way. but now Jay in a doubled length of stronger silk along the join, and continue the lapping over that. The loop of the doubled piece of silk will serve as a pull through, by which the end of the lapping is drawn under the rest, and the frequent difficulty about a knot is neatly solved. Some of the siik tyings-on of the rod ring-s are sure to have become worn during a season's use, and this matter of repair should not be neglected any longer, for a ragged rod looks most elovenlv on Ist October. While we are about it, we might apply some good varnish to the whole of the Tod; and if it. does not "get against" anything in the drying process, we can then regard it with complete satisfaction, and tell Henry that it is "as good as new." In course of clearing out the drawer, a tangle of minnows will probably come to light; some torn, others wantins a triangle ot two. all of them looking most sadly in need of attention. Tears can be mended with a needle 3nd a bit of binding wire and if the guv is yet sound it is jeasy to tie on a triangle. I have just repaired a dozen of these dilapidated minnows, which now seem quite, serviceable; and the thought occurs that at least twelve half-crowns might have been saved by doing the ne-cfcsary Tepairs at once.

Two guineas for four lines of poetry! Read Tonking's Linseed Emulsion intimation every .Saturday amongst news items. *•■>