Chapt. xiii. Size of winch. 169 



From K's very interesting letter on Mah- 

 iv mcli. geer £ s j 1 i I1 g ) w ] 1 i c ] a -vp-iir be found in the ap- 



pendix, it would seem that if you are fishing in the large 

 rivers of Northern India, your winch should be capable 

 of holding 200 yards of running line, and that the cogs 

 should be made of well hardened steel only. But in the 

 Madras Presidency, I have always found 100 yards of line 

 sufficient. 



The amount of line a winch will hold, depends very 

 much on the description of line you use. The same reel 

 will hold nearly twice as much of, the cotton twine here- 

 after recommended for Mahseer fishing, as it will of the 

 India rubber coated plaited silk, which is both more ex- 

 pensive and more bulky. 



For the single handed fly rod a convenient sized winch 

 is one of 2£ inches in diameter; for ordinary Mahseer fish- 

 ing one of 3J inches in diameter, is the most generally 

 useful ; but for such monsters as K. deals with in the ap- 

 pendix, I suppose a winch of as much as 4| inches in dia- 

 meter may be required. But this is an extreme size, and 

 weighty on the rod, and I would not recommend its pur- 

 chase, unless it is really likely to be wanted for contend- 

 ing with 40 lb. and 50 lb. fish. The reel of 3£ inches in 

 diameter will generally answer all purposes. 



A deep and narrow reel is preferable to a broad and 

 shallow one, for the reason that you can wind in more 

 quickly, if every circumference, and consequently every 

 turn of the wheel, represents a greater length. 



I would recommend the invariable use of a check 



