314 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



similar manner about six inches below the refractory socket 

 of the lower joint, but making the turns in the opposite 

 direction to those already placed on the upper joint, and 

 thus winding this new ligature tightly on the rod, continue 

 until it reaches and covers the metal portion of the socket. 

 The two ligatures will now meet one another at the refractory 

 socket, and if they are grasped firmly in the two hands will 

 permit a perfectly safe but firm grip to be made on the two 

 joints, and they will thus be easily separated. 



If the fisherman finds that the linen or the handkerchief 

 does not grip the rod, he can first pass a little of the small 

 end through the nearest ring, and then down the joint, 

 overlapping this end, with the first turn, etc. 



If, when near home, you find the sockets fixed together, 

 take the two joints into the house, and by leaving the rod 

 until the morning, the dryness and warmth of the room in 

 which it is kept will probably loosen the sockets or at any 

 rate considerably assist their ultimate separation. 



When the joints are separated, see that they are rubbed 

 clean with a dry rag, and then kept well greased with 

 mutton fat in the future. 



As with golf, so with the salmon rod : don't press. It is 

 knack and not strength which achieves the best and most 

 accurate casts. Never exert your last pound of strength ; 

 keep well within the limit of your power. A correct action 

 is perhaps the most important art in fly casting. At the 

 finish of any cast, if there is any slack line hanging below the 

 upper hand and the winch reel up at once ; never have any 

 slack line before the winch when expecting a rise. 



