26 BOTTOM OR FLOAT-FISHING. 



reel the line is entirely independent of the hand, 

 by which indeed it is very seldom desirable that it 

 should be touched in any way. All that the 

 hands have to do is to keep the point of the rod 

 well up, and a steady strain on the fish ; and eyes 

 and attention are thus left free to take care of 

 their owner's neck a practical advantage which 

 those who have chased a salmon down the cragged 

 and slippery channel of a Highland river, or a 

 strong Pike along the margin of a Hampshire 

 "Water Meadow" will know how to appreciate. 

 A check winch, in fact, does two-thirds of the 

 fisherman's work for him, and may almost be left 

 to kill by itself ; it acts upon the golden rule of 

 never giving an inch of line unless it is taken, and 

 when really required pays it out smoothly and 

 rapidly to the exact extent necessary, and no 

 more. The even check prevents the line "over 

 running" itself in the one case, or sticking fast in 

 the other ; and when it becomes necessary to wind 

 up a fish, the check reel is in every way as direct 

 and powerful a lever as the plain old-fashioned 

 wheel. The point to guard against is having the 

 check too strong. 



