THE CASTING REEL 73 



average caster when first attached, but after an 

 hour's work he finds himself depending upon the 

 "ever present handle." While the stock argument 

 used in favor of the device is that the absolutely 

 equal air resistance and centrifugal tension of the 

 two arms gives great smoothness when the reel is in 

 action, I have found the double handle easier to 

 grasp. My first one came with a new reel, though I 

 had ordered the regular single handle perhaps the 

 maker took the "under-handed" method of getting 

 me to try the thing disgusted, I was on the point 

 of returning the reel to the maker, when my bump 

 of angling curiosity got in its work and I tried the 

 winch out, just as the maker knew I would. (Is 

 there a more pregnant word in the angler's vocabu- 

 lary than the verb to try-out!) By the way, that 

 original double handle is still attached to the reel 

 with which it came. 



So we have trace'd the evolution of the casting reel 

 from the first Kentucky double multiplier down to the 

 modern highly specialized winch that can do every- 

 thing but "spit on the bait." Surely the angler would 

 be foolish indeed who would try to use them all, and 

 would have to command a considerable bank account. 

 My collection is in nowise complete, but it repre- 

 sents several hundred dollars, and had it not been 

 for the thoughtfulness and consideration of various 

 makers it would have been in nowise as complete as 

 it is. After all, when it comes to actual fishing, a 



