ROD, REEL, AND LINE 59 



drop the shaft the moment you let go the bag, the 

 bullet will not travel far. It will hardly travel at 

 all. Well, there is in a fishing-rod a principle akin 

 to that of the catapult. The rod is elastic. The 

 elasticity is meant to be used. It is not used when 

 the rod is handled timorously. It is brought into 

 play only when the handling is firm. 



All this, when set down, seems fairly obvious; 

 yet to many a person seeking to catch a fish it does 

 not come by the light of nature, and sometimes 

 never comes at all. Any one who frequents trout 

 streams or salmon rivers cannot fail of being struck 

 by the rarity of correct casting. Usually the angler, 

 with wide and graceless waves of the arms and of 

 the body, is engaged in a ludicrous labour. Instead 

 of using the rod to fling the fly, he seems to be fling- 

 ing the rod itself. Sometimes a favourable slant of 

 wind sends out the line as wished ; but more often 

 the gut falls in a coil, probably in a splash, and 

 nearer to himself than the fisherman designed. The 

 source of the mischief is his wide and graceless 

 waving. His body should be erect and almost rigid ; 

 his left hand, rest for the end of the salmon rod, 

 should hardly move at all ; and the right, gripping 

 tightly and aiming with confidence, should move as 

 little as is compatible with the energy required to 

 liberate the forces of the weapon. The gingerly and 

 clumsy manner in which a rod is often used may some- 

 times come from an apprehension that it would not 

 stand the strain of the usage theoretically correct. 

 If the rod is a good one the fear is needless. The 



