74 



CHAPTER V. 



ON THROWING THE LINE; HOOKING, PLAYING, 

 LANDING, AND KILLING A FISH. 



THE different operations, which we are 

 about to describe in this chapter, are, to the 

 fly-fisher, of the very last importance. You 

 may have the best rod and tackle that ever 

 appeared on the banks of the Dove, and you 

 may have "toleration" to fish in the most 

 closely-preserved parts of that lovely stream 

 in those parts of it which are absolutely alive 

 with trout and grayling but if you do not 

 know how to throw, cast, or fling a line in the 

 manner of an artist, you will not be able to 

 make a single fin show itself above the surface 

 of the water. "He throws a fly as well as 

 any man in England," is a common eulogistic 

 expression, as if perfection in that single 

 operation was a guarantee that the adept was 

 equally skilled in every thing that pertains to 

 his art. It is tantamount to saying, he is 

 the best fly-fisher in England. We shall, 



