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More important even than the rod is the reel. This must 

 be made with the delicacy of the finest clock work. It is a 

 multiplier and should either run on agates or steel pins, 

 the latter is not so easily broken as the former and 

 renders as well if it is kept well oiled. The cog wheels 

 must be as perfect as they can be and run with absolute 

 accuracy and noiselessness. The least jar or chatter 

 renders the whole thing utterly useless. The handle is 

 balanced and the main barrel is large and able to hold 

 three hundred yards of line. When a good reel has once 

 been selected it needs and deserves the best of care ; it 

 should be kept in a leather case, and if it is unused for 

 some time should be oiled occasionally. Before it is used 

 and when it is about being put away it should be taken 

 apart, wiped dry and oiled, and all rust must be thor- 

 oughly removed. 



Lines and Leaders. — The best lines are of grass 

 or raw silk, but they are expensive, rot easily, require 

 the utmost care, and will whip out against the bars of the 

 reel. Silk lines are apt to stick and will not deliver 

 rapidly, and custom has fallen upon those of flax. These 

 are poor affairs at best ; they swell when wet and rot unless 

 they are dried after every wetting, but they are the 

 most practical taken all in all, that the tackle makers 

 have yet given us. From twelve to fifteen threads are 

 the sizes generally used, although some persons prefer 

 those of eighteen. Of course the finer the line the soon- 

 er it looses its strength, and deteriorates under exposure. 

 No bass fisherman can do himself justice with any line 

 but one of raw silk, and the question only is whether be 

 can afford — taking into consideration his purse and the 

 amount of <fishing he may do — to buy the best or wheth- 

 er he must content himself with inferior tackle at a 

 moderate price. Even a poor fisherman can make a fair 



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