CASTING THE MINNOW. 417 



ing toward tho ground or water, making an angle of about 

 30 dog. with the line of the shoulders, X Z (the inelination 

 of the rod is shown fully in figure 4) ; this is the situation 

 at the beginning of the east. 



Now for the east: The angler turns his faee toward X, 

 the objective point, without turning his body; he now 

 inclines his body in the direction of C, advancing the right 

 foot and bending the right knee slightly, and makes a 

 sweeping cast from the right to the left, and from below 

 upward, across the body diagonally, until the rod-hand is 

 at the height of the left shoulder, and the arm and rod 

 extended in the direction of A D, with the tip of the rod 

 inclining u])ward, as shown in figure 5. 



The movement of the right hand is almost in a straight 

 line from a point near the right hip to a point near the 

 left shoulder ; the motion in casting is steady, increasing 

 in swiftness toward the end of the cast, and ending with 

 the "pitching" of the bait — instead of a violent jerk — 

 somewhat similar to the straight underhand pitching of a 

 base-ball. 



In making the cast, the right elbow should touch the 

 body, sweeping across it, and only leave it at the end of 

 the cast, making the forearm do the work. At the end o£ 

 the cast, the reel and thumb are upward, and the rod forms 

 an angle of 30 deg. with the line of the shoulders X Z, 

 and the minnow, instead of following the direction of the 

 rod A D, as some might suppose, will, from the slight 

 curve described by the rod during the cast, diverge toward 

 the left, and drop at X, when the thumb should immedi- 

 ately stop the reel by an increased pressure. 



Casting to the right is just the reverse of the above 

 proceeding. The angler being in the same position, 



