SEA FISHING FROM SMALL BOATS 235 



vaseline. The Rev. F. W. Tracy, who in former years had a 

 considerable experience of sea fishing on the coasts of Devon, 

 Cornwall, Wales, the Isle of Man, and elsewhere, and has 

 kindly sent me many very valuable suggestions and criticisms, 

 tells me he makes it a rule to dress the inside of his reel with 

 one of those enamelled paints which were recently so popular 

 among ladies for decorating deal furniture. It may be asked, 

 ' Why not use the old-fashioned brass or gunmetal winch ? ' 

 The answer is To reel up a great length of line on one of those 

 winches would take too much time. What is required is a large 

 barrel to the reel, every turn of which is equivalent to three 

 or four turns of the winch, thus giving the advantages of a 

 multiplier with none of its complications and liability to get out 

 of order. 



A strong Nottingham reel six or seven inches in diameter 

 is not by any means too large for the sea angler, and it is im- 

 portant that it should be fitted with what is termed an ' optional 

 check ' that is to say, an arrangement by which it can be made 

 a free-running reel or a reel with a check at the option of the 

 user. A portion of the usual check mechanism consists of a 

 double steel spring attached to the inside of the reel back by 

 means of two steel screws. These rust at once in salt water 

 usage. I have abused and preached against the use of steel 

 in sea-fishing tackle until I am tired ; perhaps two centuries 

 hence the tackle-makers will appreciate the fact that some metal 

 which does not rust is better suited for the purpose. Perhaps 

 then we shall have reels made on the Nottingham system, but 

 with very little wood and no steel in them. Of course there are 

 even now Nottingham reels' made principally of brass, vul- 

 canite, &c., but I have come across few strong enough for sea 

 fishing. Some of the best of these are made by Slater, of 

 Newark, who has a patent line guard of his own a very good 

 one. 



