Casting the Fly 357 



acquiring a correct casting style ; and even 

 when learned must be constantly practised before 

 perfection is reached. Many stream fishermen 

 swing their rods back and forth, using their entire 

 arm in the movement, and manage to get their 

 flies some distance on the water, but they fail 

 sadly in accuracy ; and this quality, only to be 

 acquired by the method described above, is essen- 

 tial to filling the creel. An old stream fisherman 

 should be able to place his flies at a distance of 

 forty to fifty feet within the circle of a silver 

 dollar, five times out of six, and send them out of 

 his sight, around the projecting angle of a rock, 

 shore-fastened at a bend of the stream, provided, 

 of course, the wind is not unfavorable ; but to 

 reach this high mark of excellence and accuracy, 

 the angler must have years of experience in actual 

 stream work. 



Some years ago, when fly-casting tournaments 

 were more frequently held in public, the switch or 

 Spey cast became popular, but is not so much so at 

 the present day, although every angler uses it, in a 

 modified degree, when a requisite back-cast is pro- 

 hibited by the presence of wood or brush growth 

 on the banks or other obstructions. It is made as 

 follows. With the line at full stretch down-stream 



