PIKE REELS 37 



price ; but I consider a good stout and fairly free-running 

 Nottingham wood reel as good as anything that can be 

 tried. 



It is not absolutely necessary to have one of those light- 

 ning centre-pins for this work, as it is in chub-fishing down 

 a stream. That class of centre-pin is almost too free ; it 

 ought, however, to be one fairly free and easy in its action, 

 so much so, in fact, that a cast with a small gudgeon will 

 cause it to revolve. In spinning, or even throwing out a 

 float and live bait, I always do so direct from the reel, as I 

 think it is by far the cleanest, easiest, and best method to 

 adopt. A four-inch reel will be the best size, as this enables 

 the angler to regulate the revolving barrel with his finger- 

 tips ; anything much over that size is apt to be a little 

 awkward. An old walnut gun-stock is the very best 

 material to use, and it should be fitted with a movable 

 check ; and if you like a line-guard fitting closely to the 

 top edge of the revolving plate, it can with advantage be 

 added. A good plain spindle reel, with a nut screwed on 

 the front, is my particular fancy, and the price should not 

 exceed six shillings for the best quality in these reels. 



Of course a centre-pin can be employed if our angler can 

 afford the extra outlay ; and as these reels are made with 

 aluminium back plates and flanges, so as to prevent any 

 sticking or warping when wet, perhaps it would be better ; 

 besides, if our angler fancies he would like to cast a very 

 light bait, like a wagtail without any lead, over the weedy 

 waters of a choked-up lake, he will be able to do it much 

 better with a centre-pin. This latter reel will cost about 

 twelve or fourteen shillings ; but when the angler gets to 

 know its little peculiarities he will never regret the outlay. 



Some anglers tell me they cannot, do as they will, cast a 

 bait direct from the reel, in what we call the Nottingham 

 style. They either have to coil the line at their feet, or 

 leave unfished some of the best water, for there are 

 places where it is necessary to stand knee-deep among flags, 

 reeds, thistles, thorns, and all sorts of rank undergrowth 



