The Care of Fine Reels. 
If you ask a reelmaker how to take one of 
his reels apart, he will tell you not to attempt 
this at all, as only “one skilled in the art,” as 
inventors say, can adjust a reel properly. This 
is of course true of some reels in the hands of 
careless persons, but one who is ordinarily skill¬ 
ful can very easily dissect, clean, oil and re¬ 
assemble a reel without hurting it in the least; 
in fact, there is no other course left open to one 
who happens to be far from repair shops when 
his reel demands attention, and the sooner he 
learns how to do the work himself, the better 
off he will be. In buying a fine reel, one that 
has oil-caps is preferable, for the reason that, 
by removing both oil-caps and the handle, one 
can oil the bearings at the ends of the spool, 
the pinion and the handle and gear post with¬ 
out disturbing the adjustment. This is an im¬ 
mense advantage, but it is well to clean all bear¬ 
ings before oiling them. 
In reels which have capped face plates this is 
a simple matter, as the screws merely hold 
the cap in place and exert uniform pressure on 
the spindle ends, and one can take out the gear, 
clean its post and teeth, clean the pinion and 
all bearings and replace the cap by means of 
three or four screws, none of which enter the 
pillars. All bearings save one can be cleaned 
without disturbing the adjustment of the frame. 
In order to get at this one the face plate must 
be removed and the spool taken out. Some 
reels are easy to readjust because the front plate 
is held by only one, or at most three, screws; 
but those which have a screw in each of the five 
pillars, must be readjusted with the utmost care, 
and patience is necessary, as one must set the 
screws, put on the cap and set its screws, and 
perhaps repeat this two or three times until 
all is well. 
The cap screws should be turned down easily 
and the spool tried to see if there is any play 
forward and back. Some reels require a little 
play, but others do not. 
Before touching a screw try the spool and as¬ 
certain how much play it has. Then lay your 
watch in front of you, and holding the reel 
in your left hand with the face up, so that the 
handle and gears will revolve horizontally, grasp 
the handle with thumb and first two fingers of 
the right hand, the second finger on the handle- 
knob, and spin it smartly as the second hand 
of your watch passes a certain point, and note 
how long it takes for the handle to lose all 
motion. Try this three or four times until sure 
the spool will spin just so long each time. 
In turning the cap screws down, test the spool 
for play and speed, bearing in mind that since 
cleaning and oiling all bearings it should spin 
several seconds longer than when foul with 
gummed oil—that is, unless you have put too 
much oil on gear and pinion, in which case the 
reel may not spin one second, and is out of 
commission until the surplus oil is removed. If 
ten seconds was the time of spinning while 
dirty, fourteen or fifteen seconds should be about 
right for the clean spool, and if it falls below 
this, tighten the screws a triflle more, and try. 
again for time and play. If all screws are tight¬ 
ened uniformly, a few trials will show you when 
to stop, and if these directions are religiously 
followed, the reel will be in perfect order. 
It is important that a good screw-driver and 
the best of reel oil be used. The best screw¬ 
driver for the purpose is one having a swivel- 
end handle, and the blade must fit the screw- 
slots perfectly, else it will slip and mar the 
screw-heads. It is also advisable to examine all 
bearings, after cleaning, with a microscope, re¬ 
moving all particles of grit or dust with the end 
of a toothpick moistened slightly in the mouth 
to soften it. The pinion in a. good reel is made 
from tool steel and the gear-wheel from bronze 
almost as hard, but a tiny speck of dust is a bad 
thing for either one, and may ruin the gears if 
not removed. 
All tests should be made while the spool of 
the reel is filled with the line one is accustomed 
to using in fishing or practice. Exerting equal 
force, the spool will spin one-fourth to one- 
third longer when filled with line than when 
empty. 
In these remarks quadruple multiplying reels 
are referred to for the reason that nearly all of 
the small fishing and all tournament reels are 
geared thus, at least theoretically. As a matter 
of fact few so-called quadruple reels have four 
times as many cogs in the gear-wheel as in the 
pinion. Generally there are three or four cogs 
shy in the gear, the number depending largely 
on the diameter decided on for that wheel as 
best when the diameter of plates, length of spool 
and handle, and general purpose of the reel are 
taken into consideration. Every cog added de¬ 
creases the strength and winding power of the 
mechanism, and the logical conclusion is that 
the double multiplier is best for reels of large 
size, where power is preferable to speed in de¬ 
livering and recovering line. We find this illus¬ 
trated in the 8o-yard quadruple reels used for 
bass fishing and tournament casting. The fish¬ 
ing reel may have a spool inches in length 
and i §4 inches in diameter, with a balance 
handle 2*4 or 2 / inches in length. The tourna¬ 
ment reel's spool may be 1% inches long. i)4 
inches in diameter, very thin and light, and the 
handle only i ?4 inches long. The latter will 
spool thin line beautifully and deliver it rapidly, 
but if used for fishing it will recover line very 
slowly when a two-pound bass is tugging at the 
hook. On the other hand, the fishing reel will 
handle larger bass than this easily, but used in 
tournament casting, it will be found that the 
handle is too long and the spool too narrow 
and deep for nice, even spooling and delivery. 
The reel which is a modification of both will 
give fair satisfaction at the tournament and on 
the lake, and for the man of one outfit this is 
the reel to buy. 
Improving a Casting Reel. 
It is customary for anglers to use reels larger 
than they really need, arid to fill the spool one- 
third to one-half full of old or common line, 
then wind on the line that is to be used in fish¬ 
ing.. When ready for use the spool is two-thirds 
or three-fourths filled, enabling one to thumb 
it more readily, and as its size increases through 
wetting, one turn of the spool releases or re¬ 
covers much more line than if the winding of the 
good line were begun on the empty spool. 
There are objections to this plan, particularly 
as applied to the small long-spool reels used in 
bait-casting contests and in fishing. If the 
dummy is composed of coarse line it is difficult 
to spool it evenly, leaving the surface on which 
the fine casting line must be wound uneven. If 
common thread is used for a dummy, it is diffi¬ 
cult to wind it so that it will be hard and firm, 
which it must be to get the best results, as a 
spongy foundation for the gossatner-like casting- 
line will increase the tendency toward back- 
lashing, and it will lose its cylindrical form alter 
repeated casting, causing one’s thumb to press 
hard at one time and skip at others. After use 
the silk casting line must be wound on a dryer 
or coiled on a smooth surface until thoroughly 
dry, and as such a line is generally ioo yards 
long, and the dummy line fully as long, if not 
longer, it is a nuisance to take off the dummy, 
too. but as it gets wet and will not dry on the 
“LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS,” ADIRONDACK^. Photo by T. U. E. 
