DIFFERENT METHODS OF CASTING 197 



which should be used. But as the exact force which is 

 required in an absolutely perfect method of extending each 

 cast is only attained after much experience, a slight excess 

 of the actual force needed to extend the line is advisable. 

 When making the forward cast this excess must be only 

 sufficient to enable the line to extend itself horizontally, and 

 to give it, in its forward progress, enough impetus to 

 draw through the rings of the rod some, if not all, of the 

 slack line which has been recovered prior to the back cast, 

 and which is being held by the hand of the fisherman. The 

 method of thus extending the length of each cast is called 

 " shooting " the line. 



At the conclusion of the downward effort the rod has still 

 to straighten itself, and until it has done so the forward pull 

 on the line continues to be accelerated, and the line must 

 not be liberated in " shooting " until the rod has imparted 

 this latent energy to the line. Unless the line be allowed to 

 shoot, at the conclusion of the downward effort, the limit of 

 its extension will probably be reached before its forward 

 impetus has been exhausted, and the accuracy of the cast 

 will suffer because the fly as the line straightens itself 

 will be jerked more or less backward towards the fisherman, 

 and will fall either on the line, or in some manner calculated 

 to frighten the fish. 



" Shooting the line " should be the method used when the 

 line is being lengthened, prior to the final cast, the line being 

 drawn off the reel by the left hand, and held until the con- 

 clusion of each downward action of the forearm, when as the 

 rod straightens, it is liberated and allowed to " shoot." 



THE DRAG, ALSO THE SAG 



To avoid these faults constitutes one of the greatest 

 difficulties in fishing. The drag, though it may be some- 

 times due to a fault on the part of the fisherman, is generally 



