Fishcraft 109 



behind you, the flies will be snapped 

 off with a loud crack ; thus, when the 

 back cast has been made, it is neces- 

 sary to stand perfectly still for an in- 

 stant, not making the forward cast 

 until the line has had .time to 

 straighten out. Of course you must 

 not wait so long that it will have fallen 

 to the ground ; if you get a friend to 

 watch and tell you just the moment 

 the line is fully extended, it will help 

 you to time this pause correctly. 



You have seen that a complete cast 

 is made as follows : the back cast, the 

 pause, and the forward cast. If the 

 rod is allowed to come down too close 

 to the ground in making the forward 

 cast the fly will alight on the water 

 like a "ton of bricks" ; therefore, you 

 must stop the motion of the rod when 

 it is about half way between the per- 

 pendicular and the ground in other 

 words, when it makes an angle of 

 about forty-five degrees with the 

 ground. Another important matter 

 is to aim the fly at a point several feet 

 above the surface of the water; then 

 when the line has become fully ex- 



