62 CLEARING-LINE TO SECURE REEL. [PART I. 



A simple method of clearing your line, 

 when otherwise "in trouble" is to fasten a stone 

 to a piece of stout string, which should be al- 

 ways carried in the fishing-basket, and then, 

 pitching the stone over the offending branch or 

 weeds, haul away at the string. This expedient 

 will often set you free at once, and save a deal 

 of bother. 



When fishing with a rod to which there is 

 no convenience for fastening the reel, a piece of 

 leather wetted and put under the reel before it 

 is tied on, will be found sufficient to keep it from 

 slipping. When the straight piece of brass under 

 the reel is too small for the hollow made to re- 

 ceive it in the rod, a slight bend given down- 

 wards to the brass, which can generally be done 

 with the hand, will, on an emergency, be found 

 to make it fit sufficiently tight for use. 



My experience leads me to believe that whe- 

 ther using the fly or spinning it is, if your tackle 

 is fine, a great mistake to fish too fast. The act 

 of drawing the fly along rapidly imparts to it an 

 unnatural motion, for when did a Trout ever see 

 a fly propelling itself rapidly under water? Be- 

 sides this it must have a tendency to bring the 

 fly to the surface, when it leaves a wake behind 



