52 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



tance can be acquired with the latter winch. I am 

 not altogether sure but that the free-spool requires 

 greater skill upon the part of the angler. 



When this type of reel first came to the fishing 

 fraternity, the spool was thrown in and out of gear 

 by means of a lever, push-button, or thumb-rest, and 

 the angler was always forgetting to engage the 

 handle when the fish struck; the result being that he 

 cranked to beat the cars, while the fish continued to 

 strip line from the reel. My first reel of the type 

 had a little lever on the front bar which the thumb 

 pressed unconsciously in thumbing. It was and is a 

 good reel too, though an angler in the next county 

 might think that an old fashioned horse-power 

 threshing machine was in operation, judging from 

 the noise. My second has a lever on the head which 

 must be pushed forward to engage and back to free; 

 as a result I am compelled to think of the reel rather 

 than the fish when casting for bass. My third has an 

 ingenious arrangement by which the spool is freed 

 automatically in the beginning of the cast, and re- 

 engaged by pressing in on the handle. All the caster 

 has to do is to remember when he wishes to spool 

 line is to press in upon the handle, but nine times out 

 of ten he will forget that important matter. When 

 I wish to enjoy a good laugh I loan that reel to a 

 fishing companion; what the average caster will do 

 and say when the bass are rising freely is passing 

 belief. No sight is more mirth-provoking than to 



