FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 as I proved to my own satisfaction, equally out of court. Similar situations, 

 in which it is a case of the handline or nothing, will occur within the ex- 

 perience of most, and, since only narrow-minded sportsmen will insist 

 on the use of the rod in the wrong place, the choice may safely be left to 

 the reader's judgment. 



All that I venture to advise, whether rod or handline be his preference, 

 is that he should employ the finest tackle capable of beating the fish. 

 This does not mean that he should necessarily go to the quixotic extremes 

 of the '* Three -Six " enthusiasts of Santa Gatalina, who insist upon fishing 

 for yellowtail of twenty or thirty pounds with a six-ounce rod and six- 

 thread line. The use of such gossamer tackle is not, in the long run, even 

 humane, since a greater proportion of hooked fish necessarily break 

 away with part of the tackle in their jaws, and such liberty must be any- 

 thing but sweet. No one need attempt to kill congers on trout tackle, or 

 skate on horsehair, for this is freak fishing that may be left to our 

 eccentric friends on the other side. Ordinarily speaking, the tackle should 

 be as light as can be used with safety, always having regard for the 

 heaviest and strongest fish that may reasonably be expected. 



The object of fine tackle is not, as is sometimes stated, to give the fish 

 a chance of breaking it, for such a concession is against the first principles 

 of angling. No sportsman wants a fish to get away, once he has fairly 

 hooked it, and none pretend to. What fine tackle does is to deceive the fish 

 in clear water, in which stout gear would warn them, and it also gives 

 the angler the greatest possible measure of sport while playing them to 

 the gaff or net. For bass or pollack, an average sea -trout rod answers 

 admirably, and for mackerel or grey mullet, a lighter trout rod will serve. 

 In deeper water, up to fifty fathoms, a stouter rod may be required, and 

 beyond that depth, or for conger (particularly in the dark), the rod may 

 be altogether discarded in favour of the handline, which is also indispen- 

 sable when mackerel fishing from a sailing boat in a stiff breeze. 



The best kind of reel where, as in fishing for tarpon or tuna, special 

 brakes and drags are not required, is of the wooden Nottingham pattern, 

 with removable check. Such a reel, measuring about three and a half or 

 four inches in diameter, should answer all ordinary purposes in home 

 waters, though abnormally large wooden reels of local make are favoured 

 by sea anglers at Scarborough, and the experts who angle for mullet at 

 Margate prefer a reel without check action. American reels are longer in 

 the barrel than ours, and a very beautiful little reel of mine, by Talbot of 

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