364 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



CHECKING THE ROTATION OF THE DRUM 

 No definite moment can be fixed at which to check the 

 excessive rotation of the drum, but as a rule, the greater 

 the curve made by the lure after its release from radial 

 control, the sooner should the checking action be applied. 

 When using a Nottingham reel and when the finger check 

 has been applied, it can, if it prejudicially affects the 

 accuracy of the cast or the progress of the lure, be again 

 released. If, while the cast is being made, the lure is 

 released from its radial control at too early a moment it 

 will fly off too much to the right of the fisherman, and the 

 sooner therefore the rotatory action of the drum comes 

 again under control, the sooner will the direction taken 

 by the lure be affected and its direction altered towards 

 the mark at which it has been aimed. 



It is evident, therefore, that any permanent or continuous 

 braking action of this nature is not required, and a reel which 

 is so constructed that it is necessary for the majority of 

 those who use it to apply a mechanism which enforces a 

 constant braking action to the rotatory velocity of the drum 

 must be wrong in principle, for the drum when it is first 

 released should have the greatest possible freedom of 

 rotation, and any permanent check must retard the free 

 rotation of the drum and add unnecessary resistance to the 

 speed of the lure, and so lose the advantages of a freely 

 rotating drum.* 



Any mechanical checking influence on a drum should be 

 definitely limited to that which is just necessary, and so 

 arranged that it can be taken off or put on at pleasure 

 during the time the lure is travelling to its destination. It 

 is obvious that the slightest excess will unnecessarily check 

 the progress of the lure, and a still greater check suddenly 

 applied will be fatal to the success of the cast. 



* See the description of Spinning Reels in final chapter. 



