37 * 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[March 9, 1907. 
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Tournament Casting.—HI. 
The Selection of a Reel. 
If you are blessed (?) with several friends 
who are tournament “cranks”—God help you! 
To listen to them all and then decide, will 
tax your reasoning powers and patience to the 
utmost. My advice is, if you have no positive 
opinion upon the subject yourself, to consult, 
if possible, some one' caster whom you have 
fair reason to believe is well posted, and abide 
by his decision. If you undertake to consult 
them all, you must remember that all casters 
belong to the “noble order of cranks,” and that 
every man’s reel is like his “best girl,” his dog 
or his favorite pipe—it is the “best ever,” and 
no amount of argument to the contrary will 
shake his opinion. There are of course many 
good makes, and the purchaser has a long list 
to select from at prices ranging all the way 
from $6 to $60. My advice to the beginner is, 
no matter what style of rod you select, to “let 
yourself out” when you come to buy a reel. 
If you can afford'it, by all means get one with 
jeweled bearings—they will outwear by a lot 
any steel and bronze bearings and are nearly 
frictionless. Beware, however, of many so- 
called jeweled bearings, which are mere bits 
of agate, garnet or colored glass set in caps, 
and which are no more use than two handles 
would be, except for the extra decorative 
effect. 
See that the bearings are what are known as 
hole jewels, and they should be of corundum 
or sapphires. These jewels are set into the 
frame of the reel, and have a carefully drilled 
hole let in to take the fine, ends of the steel 
axles, and are practically indestructible 
journals. 
Unfortunately there is no generally accepted 
standard of size or shape to which the tyro 
may be referred, for this, together with the 
question of light versus heavy spools and 
handles, is still a hotly contested point among 
experts. One side claims superiority for the 
reel with heavy spool and handle by reason 
that, after the spool is started, the momentum 
of the heavy spool, aided by the fly-wheel 
effect of the heavy handle, is not so quickly 
overcome by the thumbing. Tbe other side 
insists upon the lightest possible form of spool 
and handle—generally aluminum—claiming 
that the real point of excellence is the easy 
starting of the spool, which, by having mani¬ 
festly less inertia or dead weight to overcome, 
starts quicker and requires less thumbing. I 
must confess that to me it looks very much 
like a case of “hoss and hoss.” I have tried 
all the standard makes of reels, both geared 
and “free spool,” and in all manner of patterns, 
shapes and sizes without being able to decide 
positively upon any one as being absolutely 
the best. The regulation sizes are No. 2, 
small; No. 3, medium, and No. 4, large—the 
size most in favor probably being No. 2 with 
medium width spool. At the present time I 
am inclined to favor the No. 2 with German 
silver frame, spool and handle, and full jeweled 
bearings. Aluminum spools are all right, but 
1 would advise against all aluminum reels, for 
the reason that unless great care is taken of 
them the frame is too easily knocked or twisted 
out of true. 
The lines used for tournament work are of 
braided silk and exceedingly fine, some of them 
being veritable cobwebs. Both hard and soft 
braided lines are used, but the general ten¬ 
dency is to the soft braid, and of the smallest 
size attainable.. I have just perfected a line 
myself, after eighteen months’ experimenting, 
which is far superior to anything else I have 
ever been able to obtain. As it takes a lot of 
this fine line to fill up the reel, it is customary 
to first wind the spool with string, heavy line, 
etc., before spooling on the fine line. Some 
casters have the reel spool built up with cork 
and turned perfectly round. This makes a fine , 
backing, but it is apt to work loose and slip, 
and your line must always be of the same 
length. In casting with these fine lines it is 
necessary to use a trace or leader of heavy 
line to take the first sharp strain as the cast is 
started. The trace should be long enough to 
allow a foot or so of line beyond the tip of 
the rod and run back to and make several 
turns around the spool. The knot or splice 
should be carefully made, and if reeled up on 
tbe right" of the "spool "will'"give 1T0 “trouble" 
whatever in casting. 
The regulation tournament casting weights, 
called “plugs,” are half and quarter ounce in 
weight. They are cylindrical shaped pieces 
of wood, tipped with lead at one end, and their 
flight is steady and true. Those finished in 
white enamel will be found best, s^s their 
flight is more easily followed by the [eye in 
accuracy casting. 
Casting. 
In overhead casting, tournament style, two- 
methods are employed—the “wrist” cast and 
the “body” cast. We will take the more pop¬ 
ular wrist cast first, as it is the more graceful 
and easier of the two. Stand with the right 
foot foremost, and the weight evenly bal¬ 
anced on both feet. Grasp the rod firmly and 
in such position that the reel will be turned 
about 45 degrees to the left, with the handle 
of course on top. The first joint of the thumb 
should rest upon the rea,r pillar or cross-bar 
of tbe reel, with the ball of the thfimb pressing 
firmly upon the spooled line and the side of 
the thumb just touching the left side of the 
spool end. The plug should have a lead of 
about eighteen inches from the end of the rod, 
but more or less niay be used as suited to your 
particular cast. Extend the rod before^ you 
without stretching the arm, and in a line with 
the direction in which the cast is to be made. 
Raise the rod slowly over the shoulder (keep 
it vertical as it passes over the shoulder) until 
the elbow is just above the level of your eyes. 
Stop the arm here, but continue the backward 
motion with the forearm, bending the wrist 
backward until the rod reaches an angle of 
about 45 degrees below the level behind you. 
Remember that the backward motion of the 
wrist should be at the end of the movement— 
this is to swing the plug out behind, in the 
proper position for the forward cast. Now 
the best cast for distance is a sharp, quick, 
driving cast, so that the plug travels in as 
straight a line as possible and does not take a 
high, curving flight. There are three very 
good reasons for this : More power is applied 
in the actual direction of the cast, the plug 
offers the least possible resistance to an ad¬ 
verse wind, and it has less line to draw after 
it. To do this properly, one must really com¬ 
bine two movements in one. Near the end of 
the forward movement of the rod the butt is 
given a sharp downward and inward pull, 
which gives an added drive to the cast and 
starts the plug like a bullet. Start the rod 
forward with an easy movement of the whole 
arm and shoulder, quickly accelerating the 
motion until the rod is at an angle of 45 de¬ 
grees behind you, approaching the vertical. 
At this point the forearm and wrist, acting to¬ 
gether, whip the rod forward with all the 
power and snap possible, ending with a sharp 
forward turn of the wrist. Just as the fore¬ 
arm and wrist motion begin is the time that 
the pulling or downward movement of the 
butt should be applied. In this the butt is 
really pulled inward and downward,, so that 
the handle of the rod does not describe the 
full arc of the cast, the effect being to spring 
the tip of the rod forward more sharply than 
if the handle of' the rod were allowed to go 
forward to the full reach of the arm in the 
motion of casting. At the finish of the cast 
the rod should be extended in front of you, 
not quite at arm’s length (by reason of the 
butt being, pulled toward you) and at an angle 
of about'30 degrees above the level. We now 
come to the thumbing of the reel, and this is 
the hardest nut the beginner has to crack. At 
the start of the cast your thumb must press 
■upon the spool hard to guard against-a pre¬ 
mature starting of the reel. As the rod starts 
forward, the pressure is relaxed just enough to 
let the reel start slowly. At the beginning of 
the second part of the cast (forearm and 
wrist) the pressure is still further relaxed, 
until, as the final wrist snap is given, the 
thumb just barely touches the reel. Bear in 
mind that the pressure is never entirely re¬ 
laxed, and is hard at the start and light at the 
finish. Don't be discouraged if your first at¬ 
tempts seem bungling and your plug persists 
in diving into the water about ten feet from 
you, and don’t blaspheme exceedingly if you 
spend, perforce, much time in picking out 
snqrls and “rat nests” from your reel. The 
best'plan to follow is go it easy, and when you 
begin to get the hang of it—practice, practice, 
practice! Don’t attempt to cast more than a 
few feet at first, gradually extending the dis¬ 
tance as you acquire control of the reel, until 
you are able to put all your power into the 
cast. A good way to practice thumbing at 
first is to forget all about your plug and watch 
your reel. After the first rush you will be 
able to follow the action 'of the line as it 
leaves the spool quite closely. You will ob¬ 
serve that as the pressure of the thumb is re¬ 
laxed the line will have a tendency to spring 
up on the spool in several loose coils, and, if 
the pressure be too light, to carry a loop 
around the spool and quickly develop the cas¬ 
ter’s bete noir—the back lash. When reeling 
in the line after a cast be careful to spool it 
evenly, and wind it on fairly tight; if you 
spool your line hap-hazard you will be courting 
disaster at every cast. 
The so-called body cast, a favorite with 
many Western casters, is generally made as 
follows: Stand with the left foot forward and 
the right foot well behind. Extend the rod in 
front to the full reach of the arm. Swing the 
rod back, holding the arm nearly stiff, and let 
the whole arm and shoulder go well behind 
you. The rod is usually allowed to go a little 
further back (the tip nearer the ground) than 
in the wrist cast, and instead of being carried 
straight over the shoulder, is swung a little to 
the side and around behind you, so that the 
tip will be a little to your left at the end of the 
backward motion. The body is also swung 
back until the weight rests upon the right 
foot. In the forward motion the rod is swung 
almost at full arm’s length, and the weight of 
the body thrown with it. There is no pulling 
of the butt in this cast, and it is completed by 
a sharp wrist snap at the finish, when the body 
will be thrown well forward and the rod ex r 
tended to the full reach. The rod is not swung 
straight over the shoulder, but goes a little to 
the right and is really the overhead cast with 
a little of the side cast added—it is a tre¬ 
mendously powerful cast, but difficult to con¬ 
trol. Some casters first take a skip or a few 
running steps, like a ball player about to at¬ 
tempt a long throw. 
