58 SALMON FISHING 



do as much of the work as possible. If this is 

 carefully studied it eases the rod greatly, and the 

 caster will be agreeably surprised when he sees 

 how much farther and better his fly travels. 



In describing the "Overhead" Cast and how 

 to perform it, an indication of the position is 

 very important. The left foot must point in 

 a line with the direction in which the cast is to 

 be made, while the right should be almost at 

 right angles to it. Hold the rod lightly with 

 the left hand at the butt end, and with the 

 right grasp the handle firmly about 12 inches 

 above the reel. Twenty yards of line should be 

 drawn off the reel, with a gut cast fastened to 

 the end of it, to which an old fly (of which 

 the barb and part of the bend has been broken), 

 is attached. The line may then be extended at 

 full length on a lawn, with the rod point about 

 3 feet from the ground. The caster should now 

 lift the line, beginning the movement from the 

 position the rod is shown at in illustration, 

 Plate 6. His object should be to throw the line 

 behind him, and as high into the air as he can. 

 The rod must not be held vertically, but with 

 the point inclining about ten degrees to the right, 

 and the effort directed to spread out, as it were, 

 the line and fly well up in the air behind. The 

 rod, however, must not be thrown back more 

 than about ten degrees from the perpendicular. 



