46 THE PIKE. 



prove a boon to the salmon or pike-angler when 



playing a big fish. 



The reel should not be less than 3^ ins. diameter, 



four inches is better, and sufficiently large to 

 hold a hundred yards of pike line ; eighty 

 yards is enough for spinning. Reels should 



always have large barrels or an arrangement of wire 



pins, to increase the circumference of the barrels, 



Reels 



THE " COXON " AERIAL REEL. 



so that the line may be wound up very rapidly. 

 Many capital reels are now constructed of wood 

 and metal, or of vulcanite and metal. Slater's is a 

 clever combination of a check and free-running 

 reel, and admirable for those who like to spin " off 

 the reel " ; personally I prefer the Thames style 

 of spinning, i.e. off the hand, which method I will 

 describe later on. 



The " Coxon " aerial reel, lately patented by 

 Messrs. S. Allcock and Co., Redditch, is a beau- 

 tiful piece of mechanism, and so far as lightness is 



