SHOOTING THE LINE. 15 



or shoot through the rings. The shooting of the line will 

 come naturally as the student practises, and therefore I 

 should not advise this part of the matter to engage his 

 attention just at first. 



I can now condense this lesson into the following 

 sentences : 



i st. Raise the rod to an angle of about 40 degrees in 

 front of you (see Plate I. and Diagram i), don't pause, but 



2nd. Switch or strike, with the elbow as pivot, 

 smartly backward to an angle of 50 degrees behind. (See 

 Plate III.) 



3rd. Pause, and follow the line back with the eye. 



4th. Switch or cast forward to the former angle of 

 40 degrees in front, and as the line comes forward (see 

 Plate VI., Diagram 3), 



5th. Lower the point of rod as far as may be ad- 

 visable until the fly alights. (See Plate VII.) 



Condensed into words as follows : 

 Raise. Strike Pause. Cast Lower. 



or or 



Switch backward. Switch forward. 



Later on, when delicacy of action has been obtained, 

 the student will notice, as the line extends itself backward, 

 that it gives a small and just perceptible back pull to his 

 rod. This pull, when perceptible, will be a guide as to 

 the duration' of the pause before casting. It must be 

 evident that the more nearly a horizontal position is 



