DAYS AMONG THE PIKE AND PERCH 33 



rings have been employed very largely ; and certainly they 

 are pretty good, but liable to damage, and frosty weather 

 causes them to be very brittle in use. This is one drawback 

 to the universal use of that material. Agate, bone, horn, 

 and even ivory, have all been tried with varying degrees 

 of success, and certainly the line does run with smoothness 

 and freedom through them. 



Soft brass rings should not be tolerated at all, as the 

 line speedily wears deep grooves in them ; and pike lines 

 wear out quite soon enough without any assistance from 

 these faulty rings. I always consider the snake pattern, 

 made of bronzed and hardened steel, to be as good as any- 

 thing that can be used. For one thing the inner surface of 

 these rings does not offer much resistance to the free 

 passage of the line, and the less friction the easier the cast ; 

 that is the conclusion I have come to after many years' 

 experience. Whatever rings are employed, they should 

 be large enough, so that an ordinary pencil can be easily 

 passed through any of them, those on the butt and centre 

 being still larger. Above all, don't have too many rings 

 on a rod, as the greater the number of rings the greater the 

 friction. One on the butt, two or three on the centre, and 

 no more than four on the top are ample. The end ring 

 also is a matter to be carefully considered ; it should 

 always be a little larger than the others on the top joint. 

 I always preferred a big plain hardened steel loop, some- 

 thing like half an inch in diameter. A favourite ring with 

 many pike fishermen for the extreme end is one with an 

 inner revolving ring of phosphor bronze or hard steel j 

 but useful as they are undoubtedly, I do not think them 

 any better than the plain loop ring of bronzed steel. The 

 porcelain, or agate, or bone, or horn rings that some 

 spinners insist on, look so very clumsy to me, and they 

 have a tendency to rattle and shake, giving you the im- 

 pression that the Joints of your rod are slipping apart. 

 Still they are very good, even when used on any portion of 

 the rod, and I have nothing to say against them ; but still 



