

THE CASTING REEL 53 



watch the other fellow crank away for dear life 

 while the bass of the day is stripping valuable line 

 from the reel. 



To-day, however, if you wish a free-spool you can 

 secure one without a lever or push button of any sort. 

 Absolutely automatic and dependable. When the 

 rod is brought down in the first motion of the cast 

 the spool is free, a single turn of the handle re- 

 engaging it. It would seem that nothing further can 

 be desired. The price is not prohibitive, $5.00 will 

 secure a reel good enough for the average caster, 

 and if you have more filthy lucre to spend, then 

 $10.00 or $15.00 will add sapphires and ornamen- 

 tation. About $30.00 will bring you the last word 

 in free-spools, a reel beautiful enough and perfect 

 enough to find a resting place in a display case, 

 but a tool built for service. 



No, to-day, if the caster desires a free-spool there 

 is no reason under the sun why a good one should 

 not find place in his tackle-box. Yet there seems to 

 be something of a prejudice against this class of 

 reels in the minds of practical anglers, one seldom 

 sees them in actual use, and I am not recommending 

 them to Tom, Dick, and Harry, though as to just 

 why I am not, I am not altogether clear. Mani- 

 festly and confessedly, they are all the reel-makers 

 claim. 



When the line snarls upon the reel, even though 

 it is not a back-lash some will never confess to that 



