120 THROWING THE FLY. 



boast of being able to throw thirty yards or more 

 of line. 



Theoph. The next man you hear thus boasting, 

 ask him, did he ever measure it ! and you'll 

 surely find him " reckoning without his host.'* 

 There are some who can do it, certainly; but 

 they are as one in a thousand. I know but one 

 man, and that is my ally down here, Tom P. ; 

 whom I have before mentioned to you. Exclu- 

 sive of him (pray do not think I name it for 

 boasting sake, for I know, " self-praise is boasting, 

 and begets the envy of them that hear it") I 

 yield in this respect to no man, whom I have had 

 the pleasure of meeting any where ; by a yard or 

 two I can out-reach them, Tom P. excepted ; and 

 although I speak of my long salmon-rod, eighteen 

 feet, I doubt whether I can exceed twenty-seven 

 or twenty- eight yards, measured from the reel, 

 under the most favourable circumstances. Tom 

 P. has thrown twenty-seven measured yards from 

 the top of his rod, which being twenty feet long, 

 according to my plan of reckoning, namely, from 

 the reel, gives thirty-three yards two feet. Twenty- 

 two yard may, therefore, be regarded as a long 

 throw, even for an eighteen foot rod, and all above 

 that, " is extra superfine." 



Herb. But, I recollect that Tom P. has a 

 longer rod; which, I suppose, gives him some 

 advantage. 



