SHOOTING THE LINE 17 



derived from the muscles of the arm ; neither the 

 shoulder nor body should be used to assist the 

 cast. 



It will be found that as the line (see Plate VI.) 

 comes forward at the conclusion of the forward cast, 

 the pull of the forward belly of the line will be suffi- 

 cient, if the rod is kept pointing towards the travelling 

 line, to drag through the rings of the fishing-rod the 

 slack line between the first or lowest ring and the reel. 

 The slack line should be held in the left hand, and 

 released at the moment when the forward action of 

 the rod is checked. This is called " shooting " the 

 line, and is of great assistance in getting the line 

 out when fly casting ; it counteracts the backward 

 drag of the fly as the line extends itself forward, and 

 enables the fisherman to get out a longer, lighter, and 

 more accurate cast (see Plate VII.). In this photo- 

 graph the fly is about to alight on the water ; the 

 left hand is shown as having fed the slack line 

 up to the lower ring as the travelling line shot 

 forward. 



Diagram 3 shows the angles made by the rod in 

 the fore cast. A G shows the line as it should be when 

 commencing the forward cast. B D shows the line 

 shooting forward at the end of the forward cast and 

 at the moment when the rod should be lowered and 

 the line fed. 



It is of the first importance that when the line is in 

 the air it should always be under the influence of the 

 force applied to it by the rod. It should, in other 



2 



