THE PIKE. 31 



the " Coxon," that runs round at nearly a breath of wind ; 

 but I don't think this really was invented as a pike reel^ 

 although I make no doubt it could be used as one on a 

 pinch. It is much more valuable as a stream-fishing reel 

 for roach and chub. Then there is another with an alu- 

 minium drum, so carefully and accurately running upon a 

 steel centre that the very lightest minnow can be cast direct 

 with it. This reel is called the " Duplex," and where it 

 differs from the ordinary Nottingham wooden reel is the 

 fact that while the bait is travelling to its destination after 

 being thrown, the handle does not spin round and round ; 

 and here it also differs from the " Mallock," mentioned some 

 time ago. The latter has to be twisted half round before 

 the bait can be wound home again. With the " Duplex " 

 the line can be recovered and wound back again in an in- 

 stant. The " Duplex " reel is manufactured by Messrs. S. 

 Allcock and Co., of Redditch, which fact is generally ad- 

 mitted by expert anglers of the present day to be a sufficient 

 guarantee that the quality is beyond reproach. Of course 

 these reels are rather expensive, and hardly to be thought 

 about by the ordinary working men anglers ; but these merr 

 need not despair and think that they cannot cast out a pike 

 bait properly unless they have one or the other of them to 

 assist in the operation. I think I shall be able to give such 

 a few instructions in the following pages that, coupled with 

 a little practise, will enable them to cast out a bait clean and 

 neat without tangle or catch with only a plain spindle Not- 

 tingham reel, costing at most a few shillings to do it with. 

 I can call to mind some of the very best working men pike 

 fishermen who ever threw a bait across river, lake, or stream, 

 who never used any other reel than a plain, easy-going Not- 

 tingham. The whole secret of casting out a spinning bait 

 direct from the reel without overrunning, jerking the bait off 

 the hooks by a sudden stoppage of the line when in mid air, 

 or having a beautiful tangle of line on the barrel of the reel 

 when the bait reaches its destination, or having the fingers 

 rapped by the revolving handles, lies in a judicious selection 

 of the rod, reel, and line, coupled with the easy forward 

 swing that alone is necessary to get the bait out to nearly 

 any distance, and above all to the proper and well-timed 



