now TO USE NATURE LURES 145 



vise a proper method in keeping with the advanced 

 step made in the hires, and the method in brief 

 is really a combination of bait and fly fishing, 

 casting out each lure as you would a fly; then 

 reeling them in like a minnow, no matter what 

 creature is the lure. The knack of casting a light 

 lure with a long rod is a little strange at first to 

 those used to casting the fly, but with a little prac- 

 tice, which is hardly possible to describe, one soon 

 dexterously places the lure quite a distance, at 

 least sufficient for the purpose. One suggestion 

 of value is, if there be sufficient room behind as 

 you let out the line, your forward cast should 

 be slower every time you lengthen the line, both 

 in back or side cast. At first you will cast as I did 

 — ^too fast, forgetting the important thing: the 

 lure must go backward the same distance as the 

 previous cas,t, and the force of the next cast takes 

 it farther ahead. The only lure I don't attempt 

 to cast as a fly is the frog, which is far too cumber- 

 some to cast on a light, long trout rod. If the rod 

 be nine feet, I draw eighteen feet of line from the 

 tip — cast it back, and by a side-sweep forward 

 cast manage to slide out ten, sometimes fifteen, 

 feet of extra line. Including the rod, that makes 

 forty-two feet distance from you, which is suf- 



