REELS, LINES AND LEADERS 61 



tainly not to be recommended because of their great 

 liability to breakage. It is simply a matter of dropping 

 the rod-butt on a rock and getting a new reel. 

 Aluminum reels are not to be recommended for the 

 same reason ; the metal is apt to be too soft. A reel of 

 solid German silver is rather an expensive tool, but 

 reels of this sort are very fine ones. The metal is hard, 

 long-lasting and clean and these reels are very service- 

 able. The reel of hard rubber, with German silver 

 bands and handle, and spool of the same material or 

 aluminum, is, on the whole, the reel which can most 

 unreservedly be advised. The cost is not excessive; 

 the reel looks well and wears well ; it is strong enough 

 to stand hard usage ; it is light, and, in the various sizes, 

 can be procured to balance nicely fly-rods of any 

 length and weight. 



If economy is an object it may be said that the 

 reel of hard rubber, with nickeled bands and handle, 

 is the best. In a good many instances the mechanism 

 of these reels is of the same good quality as that fur- 

 nished in rubber and German silver. In some cases 

 the reels are, in fact, the same; the only difference be- 

 ing in the German silver and nickel; this, of course, 

 as regards the product of any one manufacturer and 

 the best rubber and nickel reel of that manufacturer. 

 In the makeup of these reels there is enough rubber 

 to partly take away the curse of the nickel, and it is a 

 good plan to have one of these reels along if only for 

 a " reserve." When outfitting for an extended fish- 



