DAYS STOLEN FOR SPORT 151 



proficiently in, what he is pleased to assume the 

 inferior art of casting'- a minnow. 



Lending my rod to no\'ices to make a cast or t%vo 

 was the surest way to vex my gillie Mac into fearful 

 Gaehc until the day on which I told him the tale of the 

 sheep-stealer who, in a dark shed, got hold of a bear 

 instead of a sheep, and, in answer to his impatiently- 

 waiting comrade, who asked, 'Hasn't 'e got 'un?* 

 rephed, 'I've got he — and he's got L' 



The general issue of these hrst casts is that the 

 rod-wielder, accustomed only to overhand casting, 

 has no idea of the psychological moment for loosening 

 his hold upon the hne, and consequently the bait takes 

 some direction directly opposed to his intention. It 

 may occur that it will reach mid-stream and there 

 sink amongst the rocks before he has commenced to 

 draw (his experiences have not taught him the need 

 for haste in this), and so he meets resistance from 

 something at which he strikes, and, when it holds, as 

 it most often does, he Trill probably exclaim, 'See I 

 I have him.' 



It was for such a moment Mac waited to protest 

 against what he considered a waste of precious time. 

 This he did by throvdng the gag upon the ground, 

 thrusting liis hands deep into the pockets of his knickers, 

 and, while shifting his weight from one leg to the other, 

 humming, Tse got he — and he's got L* There was 

 a depth of scorn in this, both for the \Welder of the rod 

 and for its owner, which I hope I was the only one to 

 feel. Yet Mac was ever quick after this seK-indulgence 

 to cut an ash t\\ig and make a ring of it to put upon 

 the rod to go out and down the hne, with the hope that 

 the stream might carr}^ it so that a pull upon the 

 minnow might be made from such a direction as would 

 set it free. 



Casting from a reel may be ven' disconcerting, as 

 was no doubt the case vath a m.ost strenuous advocate 

 of this method when, at a recent competition, his 



