14 THROWING THE LINE AND FLIES. 



are merely going to throw a thin line with a 

 slight limber rod upon the water. What if you 

 fracture one or both in the attempt ? The damage 

 can be remedied. 



I suppose you now on a bank above some river's 

 surface, all ready for your first cast. Move your 

 right wrist and fore-arm round to the right, let- 

 ting go, just as it begins to get taut, the tip of 

 the line in your left fingers, and bring round from 

 left to right over your right shoulder the upper 

 part of your rod, describing with the point of it 

 an irregular a horse-shoe circle, and then cast 

 forward with a flinging motion of the wrist and 

 fore-arm. The motion of the wrist must predomi- 

 nate over that of the fore-arm and elbow-joint. 

 If you follow the above motions exactly and with 

 freedom, from four to five feet of your line, sup- 

 posing you to have between three and four yards 

 of it out, must fall lightly upon the water. If 

 that length does not so fall, you are wrong, and 

 you must go on casting and casting, practising 

 and practising, until you are right, 



At first you will find, unless you are very handy 

 and a very apt scholar indeed, that nearly all 

 your line will fall upon the water, and that the 

 top of your rod will come in contact, or nearly so, 

 with the surface of it. These are the greatest 

 drawbacks to throwing a line well, and if not 

 overcome, the learner must never expect to be- 



