60 SALMON AND TROUT. 



A best four and a quarter inch diameter London made, 

 stained brass reel, with eighty or a hundred yards of stout 

 dressed salmon line or, in fact, as much as it will hold 

 weighs two pounds one ounce. This is the sort of reel which 

 usually finds favour with salmon fishers, but to my mind it is 

 unnecessarily large and weighty. 



The weight of the reel, however, should be always adapted 

 to the length and ' balance ' of the rod. For a ladies' rod, in 

 cases where the price of a reel is of no consequence, wonder- 

 fully light reels about half the ordinary weight and made 

 entirely of aluminium can be obtained. I have seen one, 

 two and a half inches in diameter, in the shop of Mr. Little, 

 in the Haymarket, that would have made a charming reel for 

 a light trout rod, and the weight of which was under three 

 ounces. The price of this reel was four guineas. Mr. Little 

 also showed me a beautiful light salmon or grilse reel of his, 

 made of ebonite and German silver, and weighing twelve ounces. 



I once had a set of three reels, which I must call ' ideal,' 

 presented to me by an amateur in reel-making. The material 

 was gun-metal, and the lightness and perfection of mechanical 

 'finish 'left absolutely nothing to be desired. Unfortunately 

 I was not the only one to appreciate their beauties, and whilst 

 paying a round of official visits to the fisheries on the West 

 Coast of Ireland, some enthusiastic Patlander relieved me of 

 further trouble as regards their custody. I did not find out 

 the theft until too late to retrieve the situation. 



I remember well, however, that one cause of the extreme 

 lightness of these gun-metal reels was that there was no extra 

 thickening of the side of the reel to contain the ' check ' ma- 

 chinery. By dint of skilful workmanship this machinery 

 which worked admirably was fitted into the side plate, without 

 any noticeable increase of bulk. 



To return : in the observations which I have offered on 

 the subject of reels generally I have assumed that all practical 

 fishermen will use a reel which is either always, or can be 



