FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



fly-fishing. Its plan of construction is quite simple, 

 and consists of a narrow spool set in a stationary 

 frame, the spool revolving on a central shaft which 

 has a handle at one end and a small spur wheel 

 at the other. The spur wheel engages with a 

 wedge-shaped pawl, which is held in place and 

 controlled by a circular steel spring, allowing 

 motion in either direction. This constitutes the 

 so-called " click," the office of which is to retard 

 to a certain extent the revolving of the spool. 

 When the spool is rapidly revolving under the rush 

 of an active fish, the click fairly hums — a sound so 

 pleasant to the angler's ear that it is not inaptly 

 styled the "song of the reel." 



In my collection of reels is a click reel made by 

 J. L. Sage, of Lexington, Kentucky, in 1848, for 

 black bass fishing, which he used for many years. 

 It differs from the usual plan of click reels in hav- 

 ing the spur wheel at the same end of the shaft as 

 the handle, and the wheel is larger than customary. 

 The circular spring is brass, which produces a soft 

 musical sound, and one more agreeable than that 

 of most click reels. 



In fly-fishing the click reel is placed near the 



end of the rod, below the rod hand, and as the 



line is pulled from the reel by the other hand to 



lengthen the cast, the click offers just the right 



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