THE BACK CAST 7 



pointing to the left, the weight of the body resting on 

 both feet, the right shoulder very slightly advanced, 

 and the body erect. The upper part of the right arm 

 should point downwards, with the elbow well in 

 advance of the body, and the forearm extended 

 in the same nearly horizontal direction with the rod, 

 which latter must be held firmly (see Plates I. 

 and II.). 



Now, the object you should have in view is to learn 

 how to cast your line (and fly) straight in front of you, 

 and it will be evident that before casting forward, you 

 must get the line more or less extended behind you ; 

 thus the back cast, which effects this, is the first, and 

 probably the most important, to learn ; therefore I 

 want you to practise this back cast before attempting 

 to make the forward one. There is one important point 

 to remember : the right elbow should be used as the 

 pivot of the cast, and be raised as little as possible 

 during the preliminary practice. If there is a tendency 

 to raise the elbow too high, a good plan is for you to 

 have just at first a string or cord fastened right round 

 the body and the arm just above the elbow, not too 

 tight, but sufficiently so to keep the elbow well down. 

 This will prevent the shoulder acting as the pivot in 

 either the back or forward cast. The hand at the 

 finish of the back cast should be tightly clenched, the 

 forearm brought back with a jerk against the biceps, 

 and the wrist made rigid by clenching the hand: a 

 perfect back cast should result. If this is done, and the 

 rod tightly grasped, the extended thumb will do its 



