CHAPTER IV. 



THE WINCH LINE AND GUT. 



Now, as to the reel. Notwithstanding that some of 

 the books on fishing call the multiplying reel an 

 abomination, I always prefer one ; finding that when 

 you hook a fish it is very desirable to have the means 

 of winding in the slack line quickly should he come 

 towards you. I have used a two-inch brass multiplier 

 some years, and never, to my knowledge, lost a fish 

 by its inaction. The revolving plate is a great 

 improvement on the old windlass. 



Messrs. Foster, of Ashbourne, are making an 

 improved winch with a male screw to fit into the 

 female thread at the butt of the rod, where the spear 

 is usually fixed. This is a great advantage, as the 

 liability to get the line entangled is not so great as 

 with a side winch, and it also enables the angler 

 to make more of the length of his rod by grasping it 

 lower down. 



The best line I know of is the " Acme," also made 

 by Messrs. Foster. It is constructed of plaited silk, 

 with a very fine strand of annealed copper wire 

 running through it. The wire gives a little weight 

 and stiffness to the line, so that it does not kink or 

 knot up so readily as one made of all silk, while it is 

 about half the size of the old-fashioned line made of 

 mixed silk and hair. With this line much more 



