116 



THROWING THE FLY. 



the line merely passing over it (which I am not 

 willing at once to admit as likely, for why should 

 a line rather than a straw frighten him ?) let us, 

 as a third test to this necessity, cursorily consider 

 how to throw on a stream, and whether the mode 

 of doing so does not render it immaterial whether 

 the reel-line be kept clear or not. Understand, 

 that I am now excluding salmon-fishing from my 

 remarks. The river, nearest your position, should 

 be fished before you throw to the more distant 

 parts. Let us suppose that there is plenty of stream, 

 or current, running from left to right. If you throw 

 up against the stream, you then, of course, com- 

 mence at the lower end of it ; and if you cast 

 down with the stream, the contrary. By this 

 means your fly, of necessity, passes over the 

 ground previously to the line. But, to be still 

 more minute, and dealing first with up-stream 

 throws, observe this diagram (Fig. 19). z and 

 o represent the opposite banks ; and, standing at 



Fig. 19. 



z, the river, you are to suppose, runs from left 



