A Guide to Making Your Own Fishing-Rod and Tackle

FISHING-RODS

1. MAKING A CANE ROD

Owing to the high cost of fishing tackle and the growing interest in handicraft, more people are taking to making their own tackle. Many firms are now producing partly manufactured equipment so that assembly and finishing processes can be done by the angler himself. Most satisfactory from every point of view, however, is to make the rod completely from raw materials, since they carry no purchase tax, and the satisfaction of having a piece of equipment made entirely from scratch is well worth the effort involved

RODS may be made from cane, solid wood, or split bamboo. The three types demand different techniques, and these techniques are progressively difficult to master. This first article, therefore, deals with the easiest method, and describes how a good cane rod suitable for roach fishing can be made quite cheaply.

Preparing the Cane.—Tapered bamboo, rods from Brazil, East India, or Japan are best and are obtainable in lengths of from 10 ft. to 16 ft. The Japanese rods are excellent, being very light, and extremely hard and strong. They taper from about 7/8 in. diameter at the butt to about 3/32 in. at the tip.

The rod must be sawn into three equal lengths. If ordered by post, the merchant should be advised of the use to which the cane is to be put. He will then select a suitable rod and cut it carefully. It is necessary to cut away about 6 in. from both ends of each section to give the reduction in diameter from one section to the next for fitting the ferrules.

All knots must be filed down and the canes straightened. There will be slight swellings left at the knots, but this will not detract from the finished appearance. File only at the knots, for the cane walls are thin and the natural enamel on the surface is the best protective covering.

Rods which need it may be straightened by heating. When hot, they bend easily, and, on cooling, will stay in that position. A board of wood about 1 1/2in. thick should be held vertically in a vice, and holes of various sizes bored through it. The heated cane is then put in a hole and straightened by bearing it against the sides of the hole.

The hollow ends of the cane must be plugged with wooden cores. Any wood will do, but Sarawak cane is the best and may be purchased as handle cane from any handicraft shop dealing in