Rod

“ I have several times followed a line of water down to the shore, being rowed out in the bay, and found the water boiling up mixed with land weeds. At such a spot there is no movement of the rod except over the course of the stream. It is almost impossible to describe the sensation caused whilst using the rod; it is sometimes like a current of electricity going through the arms and legs. On raising one foot from the ground the rod descends. The effect produced when walking is that the rod has the appearance of a fishing rod when the fish is hooked,—the rod seems alive. ”

“ Rod′-fish′ing, fly-fishing: angling; Rod′-line, a fishing-line not wound on a reel; Rod′-machine′, in wood-working, a machine for cutting cylindrical sticks such as broom-handles; Rod′-ring, one of the rings along a fishing-rod through which the line runs; Rod′ster, an angler.—Napier's rods (see Napierian) . [A.S. ród; Dut. roede, Ger. ruthe; L. rudis.] ”

“ Rod, rod, n. a long twig: a slender stick: anything long and slender, as a magic rod, a lightning-rod, a fishing-rod, &c.: an instrument of correction: an emblem of power or authority: a pole or perch (51⁄2 yards, or 161⁄2 feet) —the square rod, generally called rood, is employed in estimating masonry-work, and contains 161⁄2 × 161⁄2, or 2721⁄4 sq. feet: (fig.) punishment: authority: oppression: (B.) race or tribe: one of the layers of rods composing the retina of the eye: any bar connecting parts of a machine.—v.t. to furnish with rods, esp. lightning-rods.—ns. Rod′-fish′er ”

“ A rod possessing just the correct degree of elasticity and resiliency may often offset errors of judgment on the part of the angler while playing a fish, but a rod of incorrect action can [32] never be other than a handicap no matter how skilfully It may be handled. ”

“ The same principle furnishes what I believe to be the true scientific explanation of the supposed mystery of the divining-rod, often used where water is scarce for the discovery of springs, and in mining-disstricts for the detection of metallic veins. This rod is a forked twig shaped like the letter Y, hazel being usually preferred; and the diviner walks over the ground to be explored, firmly grasping its two prongs with his hands, in such a position that its stem points forward. ”

“ He sends out for a long birch rod, and having trimmed off the leaves carefully,—with a glance or two in your direction,—he marches up behind the bench of the poor culprit,—who turns deathly pale,—grapples him by the collar, drags him out over the desks, his limbs dangling in a shocking way against the sharp angles, and having him fairly in the middle of the room, clinches his rod with a new, and, as it seems to you, a very sportive grip. ”

“ The rod which they use is about twenty-four feet long, resembling a fishing-rod, the parts of which are inserted within one another, and the whole contained in a walking-stick.
They also carry with them horse-hair nooses of different sizes and strength, which they fasten to the rod: likewise bird-lime, and a variety of calls for the different kinds of birds, with which they imitate them to the greatest nicety. They take with them likewise two lines to which horse-hair nooses are attached for catching larger birds, and a bag or net to carry their game. ”

“ Practice at first with a line only as long again as the rod, and lengthen it by degrees, as you find you progress. In drawing the line out of the water, incline the rod rather to the right, then describe a sort of half circle round your head by elevating the rod and giving it a motion towards your left. The moment the line thrown reaches its whole length, the fly should touch the water, else it will be checked, and recoil, falling heavily, and making a splash, which must by all means be avoided, or it will frighten away all the fish in the immediate neighborhood. ”

“ If we could fish by steam, a rod exceeding a pound and measuring over fourteen feet might answer [21] well, but in these benighted days, while wrists are made of bone, muscles, cartilages and the like, the lighter the better. A rod, and if perfection is absolutely indispensable, a cedar rod of eleven or twelve feet, weighing nine or ten ounces, will catch trout. Cedar rods can only be obtained in America, and then only on compulsion, but this wood makes the most elastic rods in the world. They spring instantly to every motion of the hand, and never warp. ”

“ The Rod and Line. That both terrestrial and aquatic nets should have their parallels in Nature is clear enough to all who have ever seen a spider’s web, or watched the “fan” of the barnacle. But that the rod and baited line, as well as the net, should have existed in Nature long before man came on earth, is not so well known. Yet, as we shall presently see, not only is the bait represented in Nature, but even our inventions for “playing” a powerful fish are actually surpassed. ”

“ Though I should put up a rod, if its utility were satisfactorily demonstrated to me, yet, so mixed are we, I should feel myself safe or in danger quite independently of the senseless rod. There is a degree of faith and righteousness in putting up a rod as well as in trusting without one, though the latter, which is the rarer, I feel to be the more effectual rod of the two. ”

“ Some persons have the virtue intermittently; the rod in their hands will attract one half hour, and repel the next. The rod is attracted by water, all metals, coals, amber, and lime-stone, but with different degrees of strength. ”

“ On one of these occasions a man was sent for who made a regular profession of finding water by the divining rod; there happened to be a large party staying at the house, and the whole company turned out to see the fun. The rod gave indications in the usual way, and water was ultimately found at the spot. Mrs. C——, utterly sceptical, took the rod into her own hands to make experiment, believing that she would prove the man an impostor, and she said afterwards she was never more frightened in her life than when it began to move, on her walking over the spring. ”

“ In using the rod to discover springs and metals, let the person hold the rod as already directed, and then advancing north or south with a slow pace, just one foot before the other, at first the rod may be repelled, but as the person advances slowly, and comes over the spring, or vein of ore, the rod will be strongly attracted. ”

“ Going forth, then, and becoming a rod, He does not remain a rod, but after the rod He becomes a flower that rises up, and after being a rod He is made known as a flower to those who, by His being a rod, have met with visitation. ”

“ The power is not in the rod, but in the user, the rod acting as an indicator, and rising when over a stream. By moving the arms as I proceed, I can keep on the edge of an underground stream, for the apex descends when the rod is not over the stream. ”

“ He places horizontally between his forefingers a rod of any kind given to him, or picked up in the road, of any sort of wood except elder, fresh or dry, not always forked, but sometimes merely bent. If it is straight, it rises slightly at the extremities by little jerks, but does not turn. ”

“ Make a bait rod of three joints, straight and sound, 14 oz. or less in weight, 10 feet or less in length, to stand a strain of 1-1/2 lbs. at the tip, 13 lbs. at the grip.
3. Make a jointed fly-rod 8-10 feet long, 4-8 ozs. in weight, capable of casting a fly sixty feet.
4. Name and describe twenty-five different species of fish found in North American waters and give a complete list of the fishes ascertained by himself to inhabit a given body of water.
5. Give the history of the young of any species of wild fish from the time of hatching until the adult stage is reached. ”

“ The fish which will generally take the natural fly are grayling, trout, chub, and dace.
FLY-FISHING AND ARTIFICIAL FLIES.
For this delightful sport, which captivates alike the sexagenarian and the schoolboy, rods and tackle of the finest quality are required. It is true, that a good workman will take fish even with a willow wand, but still he would do far better with a rod turned out by a good maker; and few young hands will be able to do much without a well-finished specimen of the art of rod-making. The rod should be strong, yet fine, and either of dressed silk, or silk and hair mixed. ”

“ In drought, wet your rod a little before you begin to angle.
8. Lob-worms, dew-worms, and great garden worms, all one.
9. When you angle at ground, or with the natural fly, your line must not exceed the length of your rod. For the Trout at ground, it must be shorter, and in some cases, not half the length as in small brooks or woody rivers, either at ground, or with the natural fly.
10. When you have hooked a good fish, have an especial care to keep your rod bent, lest he run to the line, and break your hook, or his hold. ”

“ Divining Rod (Vol. viii., pp. 350. 400.) .—Your correspondents do not tell us what was discovered in the places to which the rod pointed in the hands of the ladies named; but although they cannot for a moment be suspected of wilfully deceiving, may there not have been, as in table-turning, an unconscious employment of muscular force? I have long since read, and have tried with success, the following mode of producing the effect:—Holding the rod in the usual position, one branch of the fork in each hand, and grasping them firmly, turn your hands slowly and steadily round inwards, i. e. ”

“ The great defect in most rods is, that the play is in the middle, owing to that part being too weak, and like a waggon whip; with a rod of this kind, it is impossible to strike or command a fish of any size. ”

“ I believe the use of the divining rod for discovering springs of water has by no means been confined to Mediæval times, for I was personally acquainted with a lady, now deceased, who has successfully practised with it in this way. She was a very clever and accomplished woman ”

“ C. W. Domville-Fife, Submarine Engineering of To-day; G. W. M. Boycott, Compressed Air Work and Diving.
Divining Rod, a rod, usually of hazel, with two forked branches, used by persons who profess to discover minerals or water under ground. The rod, if carried slowly along by the forked ends, dips and points downwards, it is affirmed, when brought over the spot where the concealed mineral or water is to be found. Divination by means of rods is of great antiquity, and has been described by Cicero and Tacitus ”

“ Thus the measures for land are brought into connexion with the more delicate measures used for cloth and similar stuff. Then an attempt to obtain some standard less variable than the limb may forge a link between thumbs and grains of corn. Another device is the measuring rod. One rod will represent the arm of an average man; a longer rod may serve to mediate between the foot which is short and the acre or day’s ploughing which is large. In laying out a field in such wise that it shall consist of equal pieces, each of which can be ploughed in a forenoon, we naturally use a rod. ”

“ The double-built rod—a rod in which each triangular strip of cane, as finally ready for completing the rod, is composed of two strips cemented together, superimposed, thus having two thicknesses of the hard outer enamel—is undoubtedly desirable where great strength is imperative, but hardly requisite for the trout fly-rod. ”

“ Sometimes one of the little rods, with a train of others behind it, agitates itself in a lively manner as if to detach itself from the rest. Often, also, the little rod, after being broken off, holds on still to its chain by a mucous transparent thread. ”

“ In playing a fish, whether it be a heavy trout on a light, single-handed rod, or a clean-run active salmon on a proportionately suitable rod, a sense of touch is needed that bears some resemblance to that necessary for the proper handling of the reins in riding a keen young thoroughbred horse. ”

“ With a strong rod indeed you can, at the chance of tearing out the hook, keep him by main force on the top of the water, till you have run past him and below him, shortening your line anyhow in loops—there is no time to wind it up with the reel—and then do what you might have done comfortably at first had you been fishing up—viz., bring him down-stream, and let the water run through his gills, and drown him. ”

“ It is familiar in the titles, showing the colour of their wands of office, of the gentlemen ushers of the three principal British orders of knighthood, the ushers of the Garter and St Patrick being “Ushers of the Black Rod,” and of the Thistle “Green Rod.” The use of a rod as a measuring implement has given rise to the use of the word for a measure of length = 51⁄2 yds. or 1621⁄2 ft.; this length is also named a pole or perch, the origin of the application being the same as in “rod”; as a measure of area, a rod = a square pole or perch, 301⁄4 square yds.= 2721⁄4 square ft., 160 rods = 1 acre. ”

“ By reeling on a short length of line and reeving it through the guides and then fastening the end to a weight lying upon the floor, a very good idea of the rod's behavior may be gained, since by reeling in the line and putting tension on the rod its elasticity and curve may be seen and felt as well as in actual fishing. ”

“ When the cares of business lie [Pg 337] heavy and the sound of wheels jarring on cobbled streets grows painful, one's fingers itch for the rod; one would away to the quiet brook among the pines, where one has fished so often. ”

“ The phrase of causing to pass under the rod, is an allusion to shepherds, or the keepers of cattle, who when they would take special notice of their sheep or cattle, either in their number to tithe them, or in their goodness to try them, they brought them into a fold, or some other inclosed place, when letting them pass out at a narrow door, one by one, they held a rod over them, to count or consider more distinctly of them. ”