THE SCIENCE OF CASTING A TROUT FLY 175 



of the line backward in a direction away from the place at 

 which the fly has to alight, and secondly, an accurate 

 extension of the line and fly forward in the plane in which 

 the eye, the toe, and the fish are situated, and therefore 

 the mental process and the attendant muscular exertion 

 best suited to this desired result should first of all be 

 comprehended, then practised and thus made into a habit. 



The only perfect way to acquire any habit which is worth 

 learning is through the mind. The mental consideration 

 of how to perform any action leads to its perfect physical 

 performance. 



This performance is achieved, however, through a sub- 

 conscious action of the brain previously acquired 

 so long as the performer is sane and healthy in mind and 

 body. In other words, there is no such thing as a reflex 

 action of the muscles which carries out that which can 

 be considered a habit. No purely muscular action can be 

 regarded as a habit. The brain of man may appreciate 

 and enable him to repeat any action and he may make such 

 an action into a habit, but this alone is purely acquiring the 

 habit as a knack, and so long as the brain is in touch with 

 the muscles he can perform this knack. 



But when in addition to the appreciation necessary to 

 acquire a knack, the brain analyzes the action, comprehends 

 the muscular movements which have to be made, and en- 

 forces on the muscles of the body a similar action, and by 

 repetition of such thought forms a habit, it can no longer 

 be considered as being learned as a knack. 



In learning to cast the fly with a single-handed rod, the 

 different movements required of the hand and arm are 

 simple ones, which we have been accustomed to make many 

 times each day of our life, and each of such movements has 

 thus become a separate habit. It is not therefore the 

 difficulty of making each of these movements, but of 



