69 



clerate-sized reel of this sort, capable of holding 

 twenty-five yards of line, and the wheels and 

 cogs of which are made of iron or steel in pre- 

 ference to brass, which latter metal is too lia- 

 ble to break at the points of the cogs. The 

 reel must be a stop one, and if the works of it 

 be well finished, as those of the London reels 

 generally are, the angler need not trouble him- 

 self about any newer invention. It makes very 

 little difference whether it be fitted to the rod 

 by means of a plate or screwed on ; but as 

 modern rods are for the most part made with a 

 brass hoop or slide, to receive the plate -reel, 

 perhaps it is the preferable one. Moreover, 

 the plate-reel will fit every rod that has got a 

 slide to it, and is more easily put on and taken 

 off. The reel is to be placed about four inches 

 from the but-end of the rod, underneath it,* 

 with the line passing directly straight from it 

 through the rings, which, of course, will be 

 also underneath the rod. The rod is to be 



* On the question involving the best manner of placing 

 the reel, the Authors of this work, for the first time, differ. 

 W. S. maintains, that the reel should be placed under the 

 rod, with its handle on the left side, and his opinion is 

 supported by the practice of almost all English anglers. 

 On the contrary, E. F. G. contends, that the reel should 

 be placed upon and above the rod, about a foot from the 

 but-end, with its handle towards the right, and that the 

 rod should be held in the right hand immediately below 

 the reel, with the right thumb firmly resting on the upper 

 bar of the reel. This is the Irish method. 



