332 APPENDIX ON FISHING-TACKLE. 



WINCHES, OR REELS. 



WincJtes or reels are indispensable to the angler, unless be chooses to 

 fish only when there are to a certainty no large fish. The four prin- 

 cipal kinds of reels are the plain, the check, the multiplying, and the 

 multiplying check. They fasten to the rod by means of a longitudinal 

 groove and a collar or ring of brass or leather which slips over and 

 secures it, or by a brass hoop and screw. (See Angling Apparatus 

 Plate 2.) 



Opinion is divided as to the merits of the plain check and the 

 multiplying reel. The fly-fishers north of the Tweed still prefer the 

 single reel, as in playing salmon and very large fish, the multiplier 

 has the disadvantage of a want of power when any resistance is offered 

 beyond that of a very moderate-sized fish, and is found greatly to 

 increase the strain and incommode the action. And of late, the single 

 reel has been improved by increasing the diameter of the wheel without 

 enlarging the frame, which adds materially to its speed. 



The multiplying reel however possesses, under ordinary circumstances, 

 great advantages, particularly for moderate resistance, and is desirable 

 in trout, grayling, and other fly-fishing. An important one is the 

 increased velocity with which it veers out or takes in the line. The 

 addition of the check (a kind of break) to the reel is desirable, as it 

 prevents the line from entangling. 



There are two varieties of the multiplying reel, one with the crank 

 or winch in the centre of the box, and the other with it at the side. There 

 is also a reel, called Chestermaris self-winding reel, containing a spiral 

 spring, which acts like the spring of a window-blind, in winding up the 

 line by its own force. It has the advantage of winding up with great 

 speed, but there is a difficulty in modifying it at will. 



An improvement has lately been introduced in respect to the handle 

 of the winch, which shuts down with a spring, so as to prevent the 

 running-line getting foul of it, an accident very liable to happen in the 

 old form. There are sundry other improvements, real or imaginary, 

 which we have no inclination or space to record. 



We have spoken of winches and reels as one and the same thing, and 

 they are so regarded by all the writers on Angling. But the dealers in 

 fishing-tackle catalogue those made of brass as Winches, and those made 

 of box as Heels. The latter are only used in pike-fishing. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



It seems desirable to notice a few novelties in the way of artificial 

 baits, which have been invented of late years. 



THE CANADIAN SPOON BAIT (for salmon-fishing), made of all sizes, 

 from one to six inches long, concave and convex, shaped in other 

 respects like a fish, coppered on one side and silvered on the other. 

 This remarkable bait is used with a swivel, and assumes the appearance 

 of a brilliant glittering fish, and has been found very effective. 



