Casting the Fly 355 



My first attempt at casting flies, over half a 

 century ago, was under peculiar conditions. I 

 had followed Horace Inskeep, a veteran angler of 

 Philadelphia, for a week or more down the streams 

 with a fly rod and fly-fishing water gear in use, 

 but with a garden worm as bait. One day, when 

 the stream was high and I was alone upon it, the 

 strap holding the box of worms became loose, and 

 was engulfed and carried down by the swollen, 

 though comparatively clear waters. The dilemma 

 was perplexing and annoying ; but in a few 

 moments I chanced to remember that a fly book, 

 which I always carried well stocked but had 

 never used, was in my coat pocket, and, then and 

 there I rigged up a cast of flies and have never 

 used bait since that eventful day. Close and 

 daily observation for over a week of Brother 

 Inskeep's methods had imparted " the knack," and 

 I placed the flies measurably well at the first 

 cast. It is entirely a knack, and a tyro must 

 catch it quickly or not at all. I have seen a 

 youngster cast a fly cleanly upon the water on 

 the first two or three attempts ; and then, again, I 

 have noted that some contestants at tournaments, 

 with their output of seventy-five to ninety feet, 

 are lacking in the first principles of the art. The 



