266 Fly-rods and Fly-tackle. 



practice, a high back cast, and the allowance of the 

 proper interval for the line to straighten out, will soon 

 become purely automatic a mere matter of instinct ad- 

 justing itself to whatever length of line may be in use, 

 without a thought or an effort on the part of the caster. 



When this is accomplished, and stick to it until it is, 

 the game is in your own hands, for everything else fol- 

 lows almost of itself. 



Now some attention may be profitably given to the 

 forward cast. That the line shall fall gently upon it, the 

 end reaching the level of the mark first, are the desid- 

 erata. To accomplish this, throw the rod forward, re- 

 membering to derive the impulse from the wrist, until 

 it assumes the position shown by Fig. 84 on the follow- 

 ing page. 



Cast not at the mark, but as though an object three or 

 four feet above it were the bull's-eye. Then when the line 

 has unfolded almost its entire length, raise the point of 

 the rod a couple of feet or so. This will turn the line 

 point foremost, and cause the end to alight first. If the 

 force of the impulse is justly proportioned to the dis- 

 tance to be covered, the line will fall by its own gravity 

 alone upon the paper ; but if too much power has been 

 applied, it will strike hard, or recoil and fall short of the 

 mark. That cast is the most perfect in which the mini- 

 mum of force is employed, and the beginner must make 

 constant effort to see with how little exertion he can 

 accomplish the result. He will find that very little 

 power is required even for quite a long line say fifty- 

 five feet and that the line falls most lightly and straight- 

 est in those casts where the power is justly proportioned, 

 and not in excess of the work to be done. But if care- 

 ful, patient, and persevering, this too will soon become 



