CHAP. ii. Winch friction. n 



before you have felt the- tug down at the other end of the rod in your 

 hand, and the first thing you are aware of is the noise of the revolving 

 check-winch. If you have a stiff rod you will require to strengthen 

 your tackle, that is, you will be at the disadvantage of not being able to 

 fish so fine. 



It is friction that you get rid of in a pliable rod; or, to speak 

 more correctly, you minimize uncontrollable friction, and have a 

 greater command of the friction which you can control and utilize. 

 The friction caused by two or three turns round a capstan or about a 

 belaying pin amounts almost to a dead lock, and so, in a less degree, 

 the friction caused by a single right angle is considerable. The latter is 

 about the friction caused by the line at the point of a stiff rod. In a 

 pliable rod the point yields quickly, reduces the angle, and so reduces 

 the friction, till you raise the point and renew and increase the friction 

 at your discretion. 



Winch Friction. The friction of the winch or reel is another 

 item not to be left out of your calculations in considering the amount of 

 tension that your line will bear. If you want to realize this, take your 

 winch off the rod, and, holding it in your hand, satisfy yourself that it 

 runs quite easily. Then tie the end of the line to a post or anything 

 firm, and holding the reel in one hand run away as if you were a fish, 

 only run as fast as a fish swims, and you will find that the friction of the 

 reel, which seemed to be next to //, will, when multiplied by the 

 velocity, amount to such a tension that it alone will break any but a 

 strong line. Consider, again, the wonderful velocity with which a fish 

 swims. So quickly does a trout dart away that you can scarcely see it 

 pass you. When you hook a fish it is frightened at the restraint, and 

 exerts itself to flee therefrom at its utmost speed. Nothing prevents its 

 fleeing at that speed except the resistance of your tension ; and if the 

 fish is so big that the resistance makes no sensible difference to it at 

 first, as a man's weight does not much reduce the speed of a horse, the 

 velocity with which the line runs out will, with a heavy Mahseer, be very 

 great indeed, and the tension from winch friction alone will become 

 very serious. The tension is also greatest at the moment of starting the 

 winch in motion. When the pace is reduced you may fall back on the 

 rod for additional friction, but till it is you will, in the case of a very 

 heavy fish on which you can make no impression, find that you have to 

 let the rod be pulled down to the angle of about 45 or 50 from the 



