I have been reading an old book called 'The Angler and the Loop Rod' by David Webster.
In it he illustrates and gives the recipes for a range of salmon flies. The dubbing he uses is pig's wool. Well, I am just an old fashioned city boy and I did not know you could get wool from pigs, I'm always learning something new.
Has anyone ever seen or used pig's wool?

By the way the loop rod refered to is the kind of rod before reels were used.
He says his trouting rod was 13ft 6in 3pc, butt ash,middle hickory and the top was lancewood.On the top was attached a strong loop of twisted horse hair. The casting line was horsehair,18 to 20ft, with a loop on the end to connect with the rod loop. The gut line was 16 to 17 ft, so that the total length, to the last fly, was 34 to 37ft.
He recommended the hair line be tapered.
The book was written in 1885 and he died in 1904 at the age of 78.
Right! who out there is now going to build a loop rod, you've got all the info.

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Donald/Scotland



[This message has been edited by Donald Nicolson (edited 03 February 2005).]