308 THE SALMON FLY. 



to hold over one hundred yards of silk and hair line of one size through- 

 out a clumsy, cumbrous thing, well in keeping with other primitive 

 appointments of the time. 



How different is the winch of to-day ! The weight has been re- 

 duced by more than one half ; the shape perfected ; sharp shoulders and 

 square edges have disappeared, whilst the old crank handle (always 

 unsightly and liable to work loose) has made way for the revolving disc 

 with the handle attached to it. 



Passing over the period when multiplying winches were in favour, 

 and saying nothing of the difficulty in winding in a fish with them (they 

 were from their complicated mechanism hardly ever in order), we arrive 

 at the time when a decided advance in winch mechanism took place. 

 Over thirty years have elapsed since a prominent London firm engaged a 

 noted workman to devote his time entirely to this special branch of the 

 trade. Other firms followed its lead, and many and varied are the 

 winches to be seen in the fishing tackle houses of to-day, the Moscrop 

 among others, for instance, all displaying vast improvements upon the 

 original invention. 



Some few years later I devoted considerable attention to further 

 practical improvements. I had often observed, especially among average 

 Anglers, that fish were lost either in striking or in the final struggle 

 undsr the gaff. But this was not all, for ths great majority of fish which 

 were landed by good men had their flesh badly torn by the hook. After 

 much thought I came to the conclusion that this flesh tearing must 

 originate in the " striking," and that, therefore, there was something 

 radically wrang with the systsm of holding the line as practised at that 

 period. 



There are Fishermen and Fishermen, but how many are there who 

 would fairly be classed far above mediocrity '? How many with even 

 twenty years' experience can conscientiously tell you that, under the old 

 method of holding the line, they knew exactly what force to use in 

 striking without ever meeting with an accident '? Under the new method 

 as described elsewhere, accidents are almost impossibilities. 



Accordingly, in my experiments, I set to work with screw-driver and 

 pincers, and made the break in some of my winches reasonably stiff and 



