CHAPTER XI 



MENTAL CONTROL OF THE MUSCLES WHEN LEARNING 



TO CAST 



The Forefinger The Influence of the thumb in the forward cast 

 Mental effort Conscious effort New muscular movement 

 Misplaced attention The meaning of a stiff wrist Misapplied 

 energy Attention A quotation Captain Marryat The im- 

 portance of the muscles of the forearm. 



THE FOREFINGER 



THE necessary muscular energy affecting the upward, 

 backward and downward movement of the Trout Rod should 

 be effected by the muscles of the arm, and communicated 

 through a rigid wrist to the hand holding the rod, the 

 influences of the hand being predominated by the " atten- 

 tion " given to the grip of the rod by the forefinger and 

 thumb. Just as in a musical chord one note should be 

 dominant, so in the hand grasp on the rod the dominant 

 influence should be that of the forefinger in the back cast 

 and the thumb in the forward cast. 



When the backward cast has to be made, and when the 

 line is extended in the act of fishing, the rod is first lowered 

 towards the water, and the slack line gathered in by the 

 left hand. The rod is then lifted by a steady and rapidly 

 increasing upward effort of the forefinger. As this upward 

 movement continues, the frictional resistance of the water 

 on the line begins to diminish, and the lifting force of the 

 forefinger gradually resolves itself into a backward action, 

 increased to its conclusion by a quickening backward effort, 

 the rod being abruptly checked, when it reaches an angle 



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