956 
FOREST AND STREAM 
THE CARE OF THE REEL 
DON’T IMAGINE THAT THIS DELICATE BIT OF MECHANISM CAN BE 
TOSSED AROUND WITHOUT ATTENTION AND RENDER SERVICE 
By Black Bass 
An Angry 
Bull Moose 
Ferociously Charged 
Theodore Roosevelt 
near Quebec, last hunting season. 
How the Colonel killed the Bull 
in self defense, after having previously 
obtained his legal limit of Moose, 
is told by him in the February 1916 
Scribner”, and by sworn affidavit 
at Quebec. 
Caribou and Deer 
are abundant in parts of Quebec 
Province, as well as moose and bear. 
The Best Trout Fishing 
in the world is in the Province of Quebec, 
and so are the best Guides both for fishing 
and hunting. Read Henry van Dyke’s de¬ 
scription of some of them in “Little Rivers.” 
Mining Rights 
are obtainable on most liberal conditions. 
Write for details. 
Would you like to own 
A Summer Camp 
for your family, by a forest-clad stream or 
mountain-surrounded lake ? 
You can build one of your own, by leas¬ 
ing a fishing and hunting territory from the 
Government of the Province, whether a 
resident of it or not, or by joining one of 
the many fish and game clubs. 
Write for an illustrated booklet on 
“The Fish and Game Clubs of Quebec”, 
which tells you all about them, and address 
all enquiries concerning fishing and hunting 
rights, fish and game laws, guides, etc., to 
HON. HONORE MERCIER, 
Minister of Colonization, Mines and Fisheries, 
QUEBEC, QUE. 
Fine Fishing Tackle 
Our Factory and Salesrooms are under the same roof 
Making Fishing Tackle since 1867 and pulling 
strong. This is a recommendation in itself. No 
diverting of energies among different kinds of 
merchandise—nothing but Tackle, and we have 
reached that high efficiency which is the result 
of specialization. We never sacrifice quality to 
make a low price but neither do we ever use 
quality as an excuse for a high price. 
Send 5 cents in stamps for a copy of our Catalog 
Edward vom Hofe & Company 
105-107 Fulton Street NEW YORK CITY 
T HERE are reels and reels, some good and 
some bad, and naturally the good ones last 
a great deal longer and give more satisfac¬ 
tion even when first used than do the poor ones. 
What could be styled bad reels for bait casting 
would be those with high barrel, short unhandy 
crank shaft and that are so loose after a few 
trips, or at the most one season’s fishing, that 
they rattle like a kettledrum under easy pres¬ 
sure and screech like a thing gone mad when 
forced a trifle in a long cast. 
Good reels would be those of low, wide barrel, 
quadruple multiplying and preferably made of 
German silver. These latter are, of course, more 
expensive than the former, but even so, although 
made of much better material, they must be taken 
care of to enable one to get the largest amount 
of good service from them, for a reel of this 
type should last in almost perfect condition sea¬ 
son after season, in fact, during most of one’s 
life time of fishing. 
Their life, however, will not be very extensive 
if proper precautions against wear are not taken 
—the finest machine in the world can not run 
well without oil. And yet we. see fishermen with 
years of experience back of them fish week after 
week with a high quality reel and never once 
think of oiling it until it begins to scrape and 
rattle. 
When this stage is reached they do put a few 
drops of oil in the oil cups, but the damage is 
done through overheated dry pinions and the 
reel will never again run with as little friction 
and as smoothly as before. And then much dis¬ 
satisfaction is shown because the reel does not 
act as well as the manufacturers claimed it would. 
There are a large number of oils supposedly 
K'ood for reels: some thin and others heavy, and 
a very, very few that arrive at the happy medium 
and do the work as they should. 
A thin oil, one that is very little thicker than 
water, may do very well for gunlocks that are 
used very few times when compared with reels, 
or for sewing machines where nothing is re¬ 
quired of them except the prevention of over¬ 
heating of the parts oiled, but reels are subject 
to conditions that neither of these machines know 
ought of. 
Not only is the reel heated in the hot sun or 
chilled in the cold night air, but it is thoroughly 
drenched with water, washed and rewashed, 
soaked and dried any number of times in a day’s 
fishing, until it were a mighty fine thin oil, if 
there be a vestige of it left' on or in the reel 
after a few hours of this work. 
Therefore, it is obvious after a few trials that 
a thin oil will not answer the purpose unless it 
be used once in every few hours in steady fishing. 
Nor can a very heavy oil be used with any 
degree of satisfaction, this will only serve to 
hamper and clog the free running action of the 
reel by being churned into a thick cream in a 
very few moments, and then one begins to won¬ 
der why the reel acts so sluggishly, and why the 
casts do not have more distance to them, why 
they can not be placed in the desired spot. 
If the reel were taken apart at this stage and 
the interior examined one would be filled with 
astonishment that the reel could run at all with 
the thick black paste churning about amongst 
the cogs. 
Under the circumstances then it is necessary to 
secure an oil that is not too thin nor yet too 
thick, and unless one has a friend whose advice 
can be sought it is necessary to try them out and 
decide for oneself. 
