26 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



The following notes on the improvement in reels 



and the description of Messrs. 



Messrs. Hardy's new Hardy's latest reel, are given 



reel. in Mr. J. J. Hardy's own 



words. 



" It is satisfactory to be able to report considerable 

 progress in the development of fly-reels. In no part 

 of the angler's equipment has so much valuable pro- 

 gress been made. The old form with its side plates 

 held together by screwed intermediate bars, which 

 were a big job, and required quite a number of tools 

 to take asunder, has gone, and a good riddance. 

 Imagine a reel getting wet or half full of sand and no 

 means of clearing it out until one got home and. found 

 y. the tool-box. Those who have once used Hardy's 

 "A- ' Perfect ' reels with ball-bearings, regulating check 

 and line-guards, which can be dismounted in a minute 

 without the use of any tools, would hardly be satisfied 

 to go back to the older form, or indeed to any reel 

 which requires a tool chest and some knowledge of 

 mechanics before it can be dismounted." 



"This excellent reel, which is so well known, was 

 happily only the parent of others, of the same kind, 

 which differentiate a little as has been found 

 necessary to meet the special requirements for each 

 kind of fishing. The original form is still retained 

 in the salmon sizes, but in the trout series we have 

 the contracted form for quick winding. The same 

 reel is made with circular agate line-guide, and again 

 another with agate bar and facings. The ' Halford ' 



