66 ROVING FOR BARBEL. 



he stands on ; the length of his rod being twelve or thir- 

 teen feet, he may take nine or ten feet for the rod, or 

 perhaps a little less ; the depth of the water is five feet ; 

 so that supposing his bait to hang at the full length of 

 the rod which is as much line as he will be able to swing 

 out, and probably more his float will be some half-way up 

 the rod, and there will be but five feet of line to add to 

 the ten feet allowed for the rod ; but he wants to get the 

 float five or six feet farther out how is it to be done ? 

 The tackle is dace tackle, and is therefore too light to 

 Cist from the reel, for with such a light weight the reel 

 would not revolve ; he cannot place any line on the grass 

 at his feet, nor allow any to hang loose from the reel, 

 because a line so light as the fine Derby twist would 

 inevitably twist up and tangle, and it would catch at the 

 first ring ; so, to overcome all these difficulties, he with 

 the left hand takes hold of the running line above the first 

 rod-ring, draws as much as he requires off the reel, and 

 holds it away from his left side (farther from or nearer to 

 his body as the case may require), thus keeping the spare 

 line that is to run through the rings straight and tight, so 

 that it cannot tangle. WJiile doing this he will find it 

 necessary to handle his rod close to the reel, so that the 

 hand which holds it may be pressed against the disc of the 

 reel to prevent it from turning round and loosening the 

 line. Then poising the rod clear of his body on the right 

 side, he gives his bait and tackle the requisite swing to- 

 wards the point he desires to reach ; as he makes the swing 

 he relinquishes his hold on the line in his left hand, and the 

 spare line goes clear and fairly through the rings with- 

 out tangle or catch. (See Plate VIII. fig. 1.) By 

 extending his left hand farther out, and away from his 

 side, he can increase the quantity of spare line up to a 

 certain point. Should he require more still, he will have 

 to take hold of the line above the second ring instead of 



