MODERN METHODS OF SPINNING 155 



same weight, he gets used to their peculiarities and 

 makes due allowance for this ; but if, as is usually 

 the case, the size of the bait and the rod used vary 

 from time to time, then it is best to have a reel as 

 light as possible in other words, one which can be 

 easily set in motion. The lightest reel I have yet 

 seen is the Ariel, the barrel of which is a mere 

 skeleton and revolves so readily that it can be blown 

 round. A reel with a light barrel of this kind hardly 

 checks a bait at the commencement of its outward 

 course, and is less likely to over-run than one with 

 a heavy barrel. A reel of large diameter is the best 

 for winding in the line, but, if it is heavy, $uite the 

 worst for casting out the bait. These Ariel reels, 

 however, are so light that they can be used of 

 considerable diameter. The only objection I can 

 find to them is that they are not quite so strong as a 

 reel should be for a big fish, and they certainly 

 require to be fitted with a line-guard of some kind or 

 other. 



In casting from the reel, the pike fisher grasps the 

 rod with both hands, one above the reel and one 

 below ; and as he swings the rod round, checks the 

 reel by either the first finger of the hand below it or 

 the little finger of the hand above it. Then, as the 

 cast proceeds, the reel is released, spins round at 



