THE PIKE. 



29 



reels was invented by Mr. P. D. Mallock, of Perth, and bears 

 his name. When a bait is cast by this reel the barrel or re- 

 volving portion of it does not turn round ; it is fitted up with 

 a contrivance, or a sort of a hinge, so that the portion of the 

 reel that holds the line can be turned or twisted half round. 

 When the cast is made the line is pulled from the drum or 

 barrel a good deal like pulling thread from the end of a 

 bobbin or spool, the force of the cast causing the line to un- 

 wind itself as the bait travels to its destination. As soon as 

 the bait strikes the water, of course, the line stops, and the 

 revolving or drum part of the reel has to be turned back 

 again into its original position before the line and bait can 

 be worked or spun home again. When the bait is thrown 

 with this reel there are no handles spinning round to rap the 

 incautious novice over the fingers, and no revolving plates 

 into which the line can suddenly catch and jam itself tight. 

 The reel only revolves when the angler wishes to spin his 

 bait and recover the line that he has thrown out, or when 

 a fish bolts off with the bait. There seems to me to be two 

 or three objections to this reel, the greatest of which would 

 be the extreme difficulty an angler would experience in spin- 

 ning his bait over very shallow and weedy places, which 

 situations, I might add, are very often the best places in 

 which to find pike. Sometimes it is necessary to begin 

 spinning or working the bait home again after a cast the very 

 moment the bait strikes the water. If it is allowed to sink 

 even six inches under the surface the hooks would catch 

 among the weeds, and the cast be spoiled. It seems to me 

 that the time that must elapse between the bait getting to its 

 destination and turning the revolving portion of the reel back 

 into its original position before that bait can be wound back 

 again would be fatal to its success in very shallow and weedy 

 water. In very deep and unobstructed lakes and rivers, of 

 course, this objection does not count, there would be plenty 

 of time to manipulate the reel before the bait reached the 

 bottom or an}'Avhere near it. Another point against this reel 

 is by being made of metal it is rather heavy, and would be 

 tiring to spin with all day ; and they are also very expensive, 

 a good one running to something like thirty shillings. There 

 are, however, scores and scores of good pike fishermen in 



