12 THE SCIENCE OF DRY FLY FISHING. 



to travel forward as the rod comes to rest at this angle, 

 and the downward droop of the underside of the belly of 

 the advancing line should be followed by a quiet lowering 

 of the rod, until the line touches the grass or water. 

 (See Plate VII.) 



Some hours' practice should now be made, remember- 

 ing the above instructions and endeavouring to direct the 

 end of the line to some definite mark on the grass. The 

 friend should be asked to watch the rod, and to see that 

 it does not incline backward below the angle shown in 

 Plate III. 



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 sufficient, if 

 the rod is kept pointing towards the travelling line, to 

 drag through the rings of the fishing rod any slack line 

 lying between the first or lowest ring and the reel, 

 especially if the left hand feeds this line forward towards 

 the lower ring. This is called " shooting" the line, and 

 is of great assistance in getting the line out when fly- 

 casting. (See Plate VII.) In this photograph 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 shoots 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 



