8o CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



placed just where you want it; lacking some such 

 container, use a tooth-pick. Having oiled, assemble 

 carefully, taking pains not to screw more tightly than 

 before, so springing the cap, though sufficient tension 

 must be secured to hold the cap firmly in place. 



How often should a reel be cleaned and oiled? 

 All depends upon the use and, abuse to which sub- 

 jected. Properly handled, a bait reel should not 

 require cleaning more often than once a month, 

 though if it fall in the dirt, it should not be used 

 without a thorough overgoing. Of course, a reel in 

 active use should be oiled frequently; that need not 

 be said. After a hard day's casting it is my practice 

 to take the reel apart and give it a careful cleaning; 

 it pays in service I think, and it must be confessed 

 that I enjoy "puttering" with my "rods and reels and 

 traces." However, a reel should never be taken 

 apart unless absolutely necessary, and never as- 

 sembled in haste. A careless or hurried hand will 

 work irreparable injury. Nothing is more un- 

 sightly than a viciously marred end-plate, or bat- 

 tered screw-heads; both are easy of accomplishment, 

 too, as more than one angler can testify. Perhaps 

 I should add here that if the reel has been im- 

 mersed and sorae anglers think little of shoving 

 rod and reel 'beneath the surface a foolish and 

 noxious habit, it should not be used again before 

 drying. Quite recently an angler brought me a reel 

 for examination, complaining that it "lugged and 



