1 88 MODERN SEA FISHING 



Next rub* down the parts which touch with sand or glass paper 

 until the winder will revolve freely. Then possibly vaseline 

 or enamel may be thought desirable to prevent a recurrence of 

 the bother. Steel screws, springs, &c., are quite inadmissible 

 on a reel for sea work. I have mentioned several of these 

 matters in the following chapter, but they are sufficiently 

 important to bear repetition. 



Of all lines, I personally give the preference to a twisted silk 

 Nottingham pike line ; but it must be borne in mind that this 

 can only be used by those who have mastered the art of casting 

 from the reel ; for if the twisted line (unless it has been dressed) 

 be drawn in by the hand and allowed to fall in coils on the 

 ground, it will certainly kink and entangle. Perhaps the be- 

 ginner will be well advised to use an ordinary eight-plait dressed 

 silk pike line. He can then cast from the reel, or cast in the 

 Thames fashion, by simply having a quantity of line loosely 

 coiled on the ground. When he has at odd times practised 

 and finally mastered the Nottingham style of casting, then he 

 can take to the twisted, undressed Nottingham lines, which are 

 not only cheaper than the plaited, but stronger and best suited 

 for that method of angling. Of course, where the fish run very 

 small, lighter lines than those I have recommended may be used. 



Among the sundry impedimenta, the most necessary is a 

 long-handled gaff. For large fish a roomy creel will, I hope, be 

 found useful ; at any rate, it will carry the lunch, and, if it be 

 constructed after the pattern of my own, is a useful seat. 



When fishing from rocks and piers it is very necessary to 

 have something at hand with which to kill the fish as soon as 

 caught, particularly eels, otherwise they are apt to slip back into 

 the water. The most annoying incident of the kind that ever 

 occurred to me was not in salt water, but in fresh. The story is 

 worth telling on account of the remarkable sagacity and deter- 

 mination exhibited by a pound trout. I had been casting down 



