90 THE ANGLER AND HUNTSMAN 



Bring the rod back as described above with a quick motion, 

 hinging at the elbow and bending the wrist freely. This 

 back stroke should be made with just enough snap to cre- 

 ate a bend or "whip" in the rod and remember the greater 

 part of the motion of the rod is secured by the action of the 

 wrist. 



The forward stroke is accomplished by bringing the 

 hand forward through the same arc you make on the back 

 stroke. Most of the action should be accomplished in the 

 wrist, "flip-like" seems to describe it best. The thumb is 

 then released from the spool and the bait is started out to- 

 ward the spot at which you are aiming. The fore-arm is 

 then brought forward and the top of the rod held, point 

 fairly well up, while the line is allowed to run out until the 

 bait strikes the water or until the caster stops it by 

 thumbing the reel. As the line travels out and "settles" 

 toward the surface the rod tip should be lowered and allow- 

 ed to follow the line. It is well to turn the palm of the hand 

 down a little at the finish of the stroke so that the reel 

 handle grip is pointed almost, but not quite, straight up in 

 the air. This permits a freer action of the wrist and also 

 tends to make the line run more freely through the guides. 



From the instant the caster releases his thumb from 

 The reel spool at the beginning of the forward stroke, he 

 must carefully "thumb" his line, with a constantly 

 changing pressure. This is done so as to regulate the speed 

 at which the bait is traveling. If this is not done properly 

 the reel, due to the excessive impetus caused by starting the 

 bait, will travel faster than the line is being carried out and 

 result in the angler's abomination, the back-lash. This in- 

 struction applies to ordinary reels. With the South Bend 

 Anti-Back-Lash Reel the "thumbing" care is unnecessary 

 as the reel is constructed so as to save the caster this atten- 

 tion, and for this reason it is used even by experts for night 

 casting when the largest fish are often caught. 



Some time between the starting of the bait, at the be- 



