ON TACKLE 



of personal trials which may or may not be borne out 

 by the experience of others. 



A word on winches may appropriately be said here : 

 for weedy waters, the present winch does not recover 

 line quickly enough, and consequently the writer has 

 been in the habit of, if possible, running down stream ; 

 or, if wading, pulling the 

 line down through the 

 rings. A friend, however, 

 pointed out to him the 

 benefits of Coxon's Aerial* 

 for such fishing, as it 

 allows the recovery of 

 nearly a yard of line by 

 three revolutions of the 

 winch. 



As regards rods, indi- 

 vidual tastes differ, while 

 as to fixed or swinging 

 rings there seems to be a 

 tendency for the fashion 

 to again revert to the 

 old free rings, especially 

 for the top-joint. As far 

 as practical experience goes, all that can be here said is 

 that one system seems as good as the other for fishing 

 purposes, while the loose ring does not tend to get 

 injured in the carriage as the fixed upright form does. 



Most dry-fly fishers have experienced great difficulty 

 in getting a reliable method by which to carry their 

 landing nets. How often has one discovered after 

 hooking and playing a big trout, that either the landing 

 net has dropped from its sling, or is so firmly fixed 

 there that the angler cannot detach it with one hand. 

 This has been obviated by the invention of a little sling- 

 catch designed by Mr. C. H. By waters, and made 

 by Cummins, of Bishop Auckland. The net is firmly 



* Messrs. Alcock make two forms of this winch : one with and 

 one without an aluminium back. The latter alone is to be used 

 for sea fishing. 



Fig. 4. Coxon's Aerial Winch. 



