Dr. Bethune (1848) describes the rod of his choice as follows: " A fly rod should not be more than 141/2 feet at the farthest; the butt solid, for you need weight there to balance the instrument and your spare tips will be carried more safely in the handle of your landing net. ... A rod in 3 pieces is preferred at the stream but inconvenient to carry and, if well made, four will not interfere materially with its excellence; i. e.: the butt of Ash, the first joint of hickory, the second of lancewood and the tip of East India bamboo or, as I like better, the extreme of the tip of
whalebone well spliced on. The rod should be sensibly elastic down to the hand, but proportionately so, for if one part seem not proportionately pliant, the rod is weak somewhere. In some rods there is what is called the double action and such a one I used for years and thought nothing could be better; but, on trying another stiffer, though at first awkward in its use, I learned to like it better."
