LESSONS IN CASTING 55 



faithfully try to carry out the instruction he 

 receives. There is little difficulty if he does this 

 in the first instance, and exercises the requisite 

 patience and perseverance. 



In recent years several tournaments have been 

 held, in which records in distance casting have 

 been made ; but it may be asked, " Have they 

 taught us anything ? " If we leave out the 

 fact that they have shown us what athletes, 

 trained to use great rods fitted with very heavy 

 lines can do, they cannot be said to have 

 achieved much. In these competitions, rods have 

 been used greatly in excess of the weight neces- 

 sary or desirable for fishing, fitted with lines 

 weighing for their 40 yards as much as 5 

 oz. It is not difficult to discover how these 

 heavy lines, fitted with a fine backing, may be 

 made to travel great distances when forced for- 

 ward with a powerful 18 or 19 feet rod, if it 

 is borne in mind that their weight is double 

 that of the leads sometimes used on spinning 

 rods, and with which casts of over 80 yards have 

 been made. The weight in the case of the fly 

 line is distributed over 40 yards, while in the 

 case of the spinning rod the lead is at the 

 end of the line, and thrown either from the reel, 

 which revolves while the lead travels, or from a 

 coil lying on the ground. With the salmon fly 

 rod the result is attained by having some 15 



