4 SKILFUL CASTING 



if that is not possible, then he should at least be able 

 to cast a good fly by carefully studying the instruction 

 and diagrams in this book. 



When a beginner is able to cast his fly lightly and 

 gently in any required direction, he can then seek his 

 trout stream, and be in a position to fish with ever- 

 increasing delight and confidence. With the advice 

 and help of an experienced lover of the art, his pro- 

 gress should be rapid ; he would have nothing to un- 

 learn, and may, indeed, as far as science in actual fly 

 casting is concerned, step down to the water-side a 

 better man than the one from whom he himself has in 

 other respects very much to learn. 



Besides these advantages, the beginner should con- 

 sider the saving in time and material which he will 

 effect by first acquiring the ability to cast a fly, also 

 the satisfaction he will feel in knowing that when he 

 arrives at the water-side, he will not appear as a novice 

 to his brother angler. I am convinced that the 

 greatest success will attend the man who, both in 

 favourable and unfavourable circumstances, can with 

 certainty cast the lightest and most accurate fly, and 

 that to learn this takes but a short time when properly 

 coached ; that, without the assistance of an expert 

 in casting and fishing, many, if not all, the years of 

 the average man's fishing life will be stultified by 

 mistaken conception and faulty efforts to teach himself 

 an art which has taken centuries to perfect. 



The student need not, however, seek the water-side 

 in order to learn how to cast : his, or any other lawn, 



