ANGLING NOTES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11805, 16 September 1916, Page 4

ANGLING NOTES.

(By IRON UhVE.)

Af/TISK AT lON'S AND REPAIRS. V,":fh the hopeful prospect, of n good sen son f-loMi ahead. it is not wonderful that anglers are beginning already to I overhaul their store of tackle. mid il il happens that a, few spare hours urn a-v.*ii'ablo then' will be no better opportunity for tho, works of alteration and repairs. Of course, tho proper ti;;;e for repairing woik is the moment when the need of it may occur, hut for one reason or another it is seldom that the thing is done properly and right :uviy Wo find a substitute with Tvh'oh wo can get along, or perhaps tho st.-iuige possession of nn iin wan tod pound may inako us act-like bullionaires and hu.v a, fresh .supply, and tho strained or broken tackle is put aside until it is almost, forgotten. Say d- , nnd stuff it in a corner, Apparently is the usual course, and gradually a whole stock accumulates, which oirv requires a little mending to make it serviceable as ever. Nowadays it is a forced custom to make the best of everything, so out conies that fly rod v. ith a broken top, while you murmur gently. Never could understand why broke. I hardly struck him at ell " ; ar.d friend Henry remarks triuhfi.t.'y, " Tho way you .struck him would havj broken anything," and proceeds to lecture upon the subject of " striking," until you hate him utterly for the mere greatness of bis knowledge. My tops are nearly certain to appear • among tho tackle most need'ng repairs, r,nd afterwards you search carefully thiouih the rod bags for that other cr.e, which was mvay together with a stern resolve to mend it that same night. Chioflv. these tops are suffering from the afflictions of a broken tip, a to-:-ring worn thronsrb, or in rarer cases tbey are broken short at the fcrrttlo. Tho last is the most serous il!,sow« will treat it first. In an American rod i- is I'kely that the ferrule is fastened on with cement, when, by turning it in the flame of a candle, the cement is melted, and tho ferrule can bo tw'gted easily from the broken piece. Then the rernnin'ng length of the top is trimmed up with a file, so that it will fit into tho ferrule, and after smearing the wood with marine-glue or cement, both ferrule and wood are heated end fitted together. The ferrules on English rods are generally secured by pins driven flush Mito the metal, and if the rod is an old one the pins fire often d'flicult to distinguish front the rest. When they have been found, the best r>l'»n is to drive them right in. and { having made the broken part of the top to fit, some ordinary nins can be filed off to take their place. A worn ton-ring is easdy corned and replaced v.ith a bit of wire, coiled twice round a p-neil to the required shape. If the kind of wire is laclrng. the harmless necessary hairpin will find yet another use.

A smash in the middle joint of a rod is a more troublesome business, for the broken ends must be cut with •a sharp knife, in a long slant, each overlapping tho other for as much more of an inch as the grain of the wood will allow. The overlapping 1 fnds must be scraped and smoothed to fit perfectly, and form an .even join throughout their length. It is a tire- i seme job, but sever a twig with a' long slanting cut, and then laying the! sovered ends 'apon each other, you will set-• exactly the kind of join that is ! wanted to make good. The slopp.d surfaces of the pieces to be joined are covered with glue and held firmly for a moment until they stick together, ,■ when this repair is finished with a lapping of strong silk over* all, and tlien a coating of varnish. To make th> neatest finish to the mend first lay, a doubled piece of silk lengthways,

along the* join, and continue the lapping over that, when the loop of tho doubled piece of silk will serve aa a pull-through by which the last end of th<> lapping is drawn under the rest and the frequent difficulty about a knot is avoided. While wo are about it wo may just as well renew any silk t.vincrs on the rod lor it is likely enough they have become v.orn by the wear and tear of last season, and if the rod is anything ot a favourite it: is only fair to give i" a whole coat of q\iick-drying vtini::-: when wo can point, out to Henry tha it is as good as new. In clearing out the basket or tack I drawer a tangle of more or less bat tered minnows and sundry put-away of broken casts or traces most probably will come to light, and cxamina tion will reveal the fact that most o them can bo made good hv the out-laj of a little time and trouble. Th minnows will chiefly be in need of triangles, while by a process of soakin.r and joining a number of the broken casts can be made quite serviceable- for " the first." On the other hand it is unwiso to place trust in trace which are at all doubtful, for th; reason that it is no use losing a specimen fish for tho "bob" which will buy a new one, so nut them &ui ot harm's way at once by cutting them into bits and saving the best bits to help in tying new triangles on the minnows. In spite of all that has been written to the contrary it is possible that old gut casts may bo quite reliable, but- of course a great deal depends upon the quality of the gut when it waj new. Recently a friend came into possession of a fly-book, with its belongings, which had been the property of his greatest grandfather—or thereabouts, and in the book wore whole stores of casts and flies. Tho flies were all tied on gut. and it is not yet certain that the gut has not become time-worn and brittle close to the boo 1 -: shanks; but somo of the casts, which seemed nearly 3x in thickness, were soaked and tested when doubled to lift three pctand weight. In these days it makes one wish that one had a few of these grandfathers oneself, or even their convenient flv-books.