CONCLUDING REMARKS. 449 



handle to the crank should be frequently noticed, to see 

 that it is firmly screwed in, otherwise it may come out in 

 casting, and both screw and handle be lost. On this ac- 

 count, this screw should never be oiled. The drag, alarm, 

 click or by whatever name the "brake" of a multiplying 

 reel may be known should be used only when really nec- 

 essary, and as seldom as possible, for its frequent use wears 

 out the gearing of the reel. 



See that the reel fits your rod perfectly and tightly, so 

 there will be no shaking, wabbling or coming loose during 

 a severe strain. If the reel-plate fits the rod too loosely, 

 place strips of parchment or card-board between the plate 

 of the reel and the groove of the rod, until the reel- 

 band will just slip over the plate and hold it firmly. 

 If the reel-plate is too long, or too thick for the reel-seat 

 of the rod, one or the other, or both, must be cut to fit ; 

 at all events, see that your reel fits its seat firmly and 

 securely. 



Always, if you can, use the reel " underneath," with the 

 handle to the right side, when reeling the line ; and always 

 turn the crank, in reeling, "away" from you, or in the 

 direction that the hands of a watch move. It may seem 

 unnecessary to mention this latter precaution, but I have 

 known it to be used the contrary way. When angling, 

 and the fly or bait is in the water, never, for a moment, lay 

 the rod down with a turn of the line around the crank of 

 the reel to serve as a drag, for I have several times seen 

 both rod and reel jerked overboard, and irretrievably lost, 

 by just such inexcusable carelessness and stupidity, and 

 the savage "bite" of a big fish. 

 38 



