- THE BOOK OF THE RKE 



In the matter of the trolling spoon I do- not know 

 that there is much choice, though naturally I have my 

 prejudices, emphatic ones, too. However, I am chari- 

 table and fair-minded enough to admit that angling 

 prejudices, even my own, are not always well founded. 

 I give first place always to the fluted spoon, with the 

 kidney a close second. I have not much use for the 

 new and odd shapes, one sometimes sees on the market, 

 though many of them may possess untold virtue. In 

 my experience I have found the two old reliable shapes 

 hooking the. most fish, so what will you? Of course it 

 may be possible that I use the favorite spoons more 

 faithfully, and I know from experience there is some- 

 thing in believing in tackle. When an angler "knows" 

 that a certain lure is going to take fish, it generally 

 does. My friend up at the college, the learned pro- 

 fessor of psychology, explains just u'hy believing in a 

 bit of tackle reacts, etc., but I have plain old-fashioned 

 faith — and catch fish. 



For trolling there is no better and more convenient 

 reel than the level-winder, but unfortunately few are 

 large enough to handle loo yards of 28-pound test 

 line, though some will spool size F. The fisherman 

 must not attempt to crowd the spool, for it spells 

 disaster every time. A little reflection will explain 

 why. It is the last ten yards of line which is most 

 important; that must be got on the reel or the gaff 

 will never reach the fish, and that ten yards must be 

 spooled after the reel is already comfortably filled. 

 It is easier and better to use a line a few yards shy of 

 the required length than to employ one taxing the 

 capacity of the reel. Lacking the level-winder, any 

 well-made reel, solid and thoroughly dependable, will 



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