TREATISE ON FLY-FISHING. 51 



Commence by throwing the fly across the tail 

 of the stickle, thus : A. is the fisherman, B. B. 

 the banks of the river, C. the tail of the stickle, 

 D. its commencement. A. first throws his fly 

 across to E. then draws it with a kind of tremu- 

 lous motion to F. then to G. and back to H. A. 

 then moves on, and takes up his position at J. 

 casts over to K. and across to L. tries again at M. 

 and hooks a fish. If it is small, as too many of 

 our West Country fish happen to be, it may be 

 raised instanter, gently out of the water, and 

 deposited in the basket. A. then advances a few 

 paces, and finishes the pool between M. and D. 



If by good luck a large fish is hooked, don't 

 attempt to jerk him out of the water, which fre- 

 quently snaps the gut or tears the hook from its 

 hold; but to use a technical term, "play him," 

 that is, let him swim about with your fly well 

 embodied in his jaw, until he is sufficiently 

 exhausted to enable you to take him out, either 

 by lifting him over the bank, by taking the casting 



