44 CHATS ON ANGLING. 



attempt to make a proper use of their left hand is sternly reproved, until 

 at last the poor unused and untaught left hands and arms become of 

 very secondary importance. Is there any phase of life in which ambi- 

 dexterity would not be a factor of the greatest value ? Would it not 

 be a priceless boon equally to the soldier, the surgeon, the engineer, the 

 craftsman, the clerk, or the artisan ? And does not the same apply in the 

 domain of sport ? In shooting, would you not be at an advantage if 

 you could shoot equally from either shoulder ? The fisherman — how 

 would it favour him ? I unhesitatingly answer that it would aid him 

 in every branch of his sport. 



What angler amongst us could tie a Turle knot, or even thread 

 an eyed fly, left-handed ? We should fumble and fume, and probably 

 give it up in despair. To the dry-fly fisherman the advantage that 

 would accrue through equality of arms and hands would simply mean 

 a duplication of effective power. Think of the countless occasions when 

 an overhanging tree or obtrusive bush has rendered a right-hand cast 

 difficult, if not impossible. In one position in particular a left-hand cast 

 is of extreme value. It enables you to command the water under your 

 own bank without having recourse to an awkward and always precarious 

 back-handed cast. 



You are carefully stalking your way up stream, the wind perhaps 

 blowing towards your own bank, the left bank of the river. About twenty 

 yards above you there is an overhanging tussock of grass with fringing 

 blades hanging over the stream. Near this tussock, or a little above 

 it, you note the dimple of a feeding trout ; he is in a position where 

 all the duns are brought quietly sailing past his vantage post. A well- 

 cocked fly must inevitably secure him. You watch the duns one by 

 one taken by him ; he is feeding steadily, and seems to be a good fish. 

 To reach him you have to cast with the right hand over the left shoulder. 

 It is ten to one that, if the length of cast is correct, the fly will be guided, 

 partly by the wind and partly by your arm, into the fringing grasses. 

 If it can be snatched off without scaring your trout, well and good ; 

 but sooner or later, unless a particularly happy cast overcomes the 

 difficulty, you are bound to be hung up in the aforesaid tussock so 

 firmly as to necessitate a careful crawl to try and disengage your fly. 

 If you can free the fly without scaring the trout, well, you are so far 



