1MK. RONALDS'S ADVICE. 157 



to effect the desired object.* You must practise 

 striking till you find it impossible to get a rise 

 , without doing so ; it must become a perfect habit, 

 which, like all other habits, can only be acquired 

 by constant repetition. As in the case of the 

 experienced shotsman, who takes aim at a glance 

 and pulls the trigger simultaneously, so there 

 must exist an equal degree of sympathy between 

 the hand and eye of the fly-fisher, which practice 

 alone can create. * * * * * 



For throwing the line we subjoin the follow- 

 ing precepts of Mr, Ronalds, as imparted in 

 his valuable work, " The Fly Fisher's Ento- 

 mology :" "In order to acquire the art of 

 throwing the fly, it may be advisable to practise, 

 previously to visiting the stream, in an open 

 space, free from trees, where a piece of paper 

 may represent the spot required to be thrown to. 

 Taking the wind in his back, the tyro, with a 



* *' This action is simply a tightening feel^ as the trout is 

 generally previously hooked from the natural resistance of 

 the floating line. If he is not felt to be hooked, then it is 

 necessary to pull fully up and make another throw ; but 

 never let the first pull in feeling for a trout be so decidedly 

 forcible as to be called a strike, for it ought not to be done 

 with a third part of the force requisite to lift the line clear 

 off the surface, as necessary to make another throw." 

 Younger' s River Angling. 



