THE CASTING REEL 51 



and back-lashes will be largely minimized. It is the 

 inertia of the mechanism of a reel which retards the 

 line at the beginning of the .cast, and the momentum 

 of the heavy handle, after it has been teased into 

 action, that causes back-lashes. In ordinary reels 

 almost one-half the caster's energy is expended in 

 starting the spool which is burdened with the weight 

 and inertia of the connecting handle ; as a result the 

 speed of the out-going line is retarded at first, and 

 though the balance handle in motion acts as a sort 

 of fly wheel, the line never regains the lost energy. 

 In a word, the spool revolves faster than the lure can 

 draw out line, and an over-run and back-lash results. 

 Naturally one would suppose that to eliminate the 

 balance handle would be to obviate two-thirds of the 

 back-lashes, and perhaps it would if all else were 

 equal. 



When the angler accustomed to the ordinary reel 

 attempts to cast with a free-spool he surprises him- 

 self with a back-lash at the very commencement of 

 the cast, so easily does the spool spring into action, 

 though of course that very fact prolongs the cast. 

 Then, too, the free running spool reduces jar and 

 vibration to the lowest possible degree, the reel is 

 hardly "felt;" which is in itself provocative of back- 

 lashes until the caster learns to handle the winch. 

 I think I am safe in saying there are fewer good cas- 

 ters with the free-spool than with the old type of 

 reel, that notwithstanding the fact that greater dis- 



