The Outfit — Reels. 45 



CHAPTER III. 



THE OUTFIT— REELS. 



Having selected our rod with the circumspection de- 

 manded by its importance as a factor in determining the 

 quantity of pleasure our fishing will afford, we naturally 

 turn to the choice of a reel, since this ranks next in con- 

 sequence. 



The spool portion of the reel should be of such capac- 

 ity as to hold at least one hundred and twenty yards of 

 ^-line when somewhat carelessly wound upon it, and 

 this so that not one single turn of the line projects be- 

 yond the outer margin of the spool. 



In salmon-fishing it is not that the line should at all 

 times render freely from the reel, less the constant and 

 uniform restraint of the click: it is a case of must — it is 

 absolutely imperative if anything other than bitter disap- 

 pointment is to result from its use. 



I shall never forget a little drama enacted on the 

 banks of a celebrated salmon-stream in June, 1885. The 

 hero of the play was a man of skill and experience as an 

 angler. His chief attendant, or gaffer, was an athletic 

 Indian of such piscatorial ambition that gall and worm- 

 wood might be ranked as nectar if compared to his cha- 

 grin when another canoe brought in more or larger fish 

 as the result of the day's sport. He was also one who 

 dreamed dreams, and saw visions in the night. When 



