TROUT FISHING. 163 



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THROWING A FI.Y. I am just returned from 

 the river (and, by the way, not badly repaid for my 

 trouble), and, as near as I could there bring the 

 matter to paper, shall now say as follows : 



In throwing a fly, raise the arm well up, without 

 labouring with your body. Send the fly both backwards 

 and forwards by a sudden ftpr/tig of the wrist. Do not 

 draw the fly too near, or you lose your purchase for 

 sending it back, and therefore require an extra sweep 

 in the air, before you can get it into play again. If, 

 after sending it back, you make the counterspring a 

 moment too soon you will whip off your tail fly, and 

 if a moment too late your line will fall in a slovenly 

 manner. The knack of catching this time is, there- 

 fore, the whole art of throwing well. The motion 

 should be just sufficiently circular to avoid this ; but 

 if too circular, the spring receives too much check, 

 and the gut will then most probably not drop before 

 the silk line. In a word, allow the line no more 

 than just time to unfold, before you repeat the spring 

 of the wrist. This must be done, or you will hear a 

 crack, and find that you have whipped off yom tail 

 fly. For this reason, I should recommend beginners 

 to learn, at first, with only a bob ; or they will soon 

 empty their own, or their friend's fishing book : and, 

 at all events, to begin learning with a moderate 

 length of line. 



I have observed, that those young men who have 

 supple wrists, and the power to whip off flies, ulti- 



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