26 



ANGLING FOR PIKE. 



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in the illustrationj of the Bickerdyke top-ring. As soon as 

 the inside ring gets a little worn it is shifted round so 

 that a fresh portion of its surface is exposed 

 to the friction of the line. This is a good plan, 

 but I prefer the snake-shaped rings because of 

 their anti-fouling qualities, lightness, and cheap- 

 ness. When they get worn it is a very trifling 

 expense to have them replaced by others. With 

 regard to the position of the rings, it may be 

 useful to give the measurements from ring to 

 ring on a first-rate three- joint 12ft. spinning- 

 rod of mine, made by Bainbridge, of Eton. The 

 ^^^ distance from the top-ring to the next ring is 

 |!jVM|^nH| 45in., and the remainder follow one another 

 with these intervals : 6in., 7in., 8|^in., O^in., llin., 

 llin., 12in., 13in., 16in., 17in. The distances 

 between the rings do not increase in exact 

 proportion, owing to the ferrules displacing 

 one or two of them a little. 



In the matter of winch-fittings, the angler 

 will do well to avoid the old-fashioned pair of 

 rings — one fixed, the other sliding — which, as 

 a rule, either held the winch so fast that there 

 was no getting it off, or so loosely that the back 

 of the winch-plate had to be padded with paper. 

 The best arrangement of the kind is, in my 

 opinion, the Weeger winch-fitting which, being 

 well known, and easily obtained at any tackle- 

 shop, does not require description. It is very 

 simple, very strong, takes any size winch, and 

 has no projecting portion to catch the line or 

 hurt the hand. Those anglers who object to 

 ring winch-fittings in any shape or form will pro- 

 bably prefer a new and good fitting brought out 

 recently by the maker of my rings. They take 

 any sized winch, and are shown in Fig. 6. A is 

 a tapered socket, into which one end of the 

 winch-plate slides, the other end being placed in the socket 



i 



Fig. 6. New 

 Winch-fitting. 



