Fish and Fishing 



lengthened gradually, a few feet being taken from 

 the reel by the hand, before each cast, while the 

 click offers the necessary resistance to 

 the rendering of the line and prevents 

 overrunning. Furthermore, in playing and land- 

 ing a fish, a click reel is much better when the 

 spool is rapidly revolving under the rush of an 

 active fish; the click acts as a gentle retard or 

 break. 



In fly-fishing, my line is very fine, as is also the 

 leader, so that I use a very small reel, part rubber 

 and aluminum. I am not an advocate of highly 

 polished metal in any part of the tackle, except as 

 a bait. I have had numberless proofs that shining 

 metal on the reel and on the rod are a means of 

 drawing the attention of shy fish to the angler. 

 For that reason choose a black or phosphor- 

 bronze reel. 



Regarding the automatic reel, as yet I have not 

 used it, though many friends tell me if I once take 

 it up I shall not in a hurry want to discard it. 

 There are a numlier on the market, 

 Reels'"^ "' ™^de for bass, trout, and salmon. 

 One of the first and best automatic 

 reels made was the Orvis reel, invented by 

 Charles F. Orvis, of Manchester, Vt. It has 

 a long, narrow barrel, enabling a fish that "runs 

 in" to be wound up so fast that the evils of a 

 "slack line" need seldom be felt. Besides light- 

 ness, the perforations of the side plates allow the 

 air to get to the line, which prevents the latter 

 from rotting if left damp. A later device, but 

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