THE VERTICAL LOOP CAST 35 



given to the line, which, checked at the point of the 

 rod, will curl over and run forward in a similar manner 

 to the loop made by the salmon rod, as shown in 

 Plate XXXIII. The movement of the elbow assists this 

 curved motion of the line. Like most of the curved 

 casts, it is extremely simple, and any difficulty there 

 may be lies in the fact that the beginner will be nearly 

 certain to make two distinct actions, as in his straight 

 casts, forgetting that the whole cast has to be a 

 continuous one, and that the first position of the 

 stroke is neither a jerk nor a switch, but merely a 

 very steady backward movement continued up and 

 over into an ever-increasing forward impulse, which 

 is checked at an angle of about 30 degrees above 

 the horizon, as the hand is brought down and the 

 elbow is drawn backward. 



The side loop may be described as an underhand 

 backward movement continued into a forward over- 

 hand side switch. It is made when the rod can neither 

 be brought back, up, vertically, nor moved sideways 

 behind the fisherman. It consists in a steady under- 

 hand side and backward movement of the point of 

 the rod, which is brought as far back as is safe, and 

 is then continued upward in a circular movement, 

 but with the same steady pull. In the upper portion 

 of this circular movement, however, it is altered into 

 a forward overhand impetus toward the spot at which 

 the fly has to fall. The first portion of this cast is 

 obviously very simple : the line and fly are not lifted 

 from the water, but follow back after the rod. The 



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