A FIRST LESSON IN CASTING 153 



advantage is there in getting out 150 feet of line if 

 the caster is unable to hit the likely bit of water? 

 Bass do not lie in "any old place," as I shall try to 

 show later on. The lure must strike just right. 

 Second only to knowledge of the fish's habits is 

 accuracy. 



The tyro will never become a first class caster until 

 he learns to take into account the casting qualities of 

 different lures, some offering greater resistance to 

 the air than others, while the matter of weight also 

 enters in. I am compelled to believe that within 

 reasonable bounds, the shape of the lure plays 

 almost as important a part in the casting problem as 

 does the matter of weight; at any rate, the rodster 

 will discover that there is a vast difference in the 

 handling of lures of the same weight. The wind 

 also must be taken into consideration, and in long 

 casts allowed for. All of this knowledge can be 

 acquired in practice casting as successfully as in 

 actual fishing. 



In the foregoing preliminary instructions I have 

 been talking of the overhead cast as it is the one of 

 utmost importance in average fishing, the only one 

 to use in a boat with a companion, but the side cast 

 is also of value if the rodster intends to cast from 

 the shore. In the latter cast the position of the reel 

 is the same almost vertical to the rod. The tip of 

 the rod is held back about even with the hand- 

 grasp level and swung well back of the body for 



