320 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



If anything the action of the lower hand should be made 

 with less force than that used by the right hand when 

 making the back cast. The lower hand should not be 

 extended to the full length of the arm, but should be brought 

 to a sudden stop ere this be reached, and the upper hand 

 should be stopped as it reaches a position immediately 

 above the head (see Plate XXXVII.) 



In the preliminary practice, when making the first back 

 cast, the upper hand should, when holding the rod, enclose 

 the line above the reel, the thumbs should be extended 

 along the rod, and the line should run out in a straight line 

 in front of the student. 



Assuming that this practice is taking place over grass, 

 the point of the rod should be lowered prior to making the 

 back stroke, and the slack line taken in. 



The rod should then be steadily raised in a vertical plane 

 to an angle of about sixty degrees, and continued into the 

 back cast by a switching action precisely similar to that 

 used in the backward action of the trout rod, the force 

 applied to the rod being a pull which increases in strength 

 until the rod is checked as it reaches an angle of twenty- 

 two degrees behind the vertical line (see Plates XL. and 

 XLL). The line in the latter Plate is shown as curling 

 back. 



For the correct position of the arms, hand and rod, at the 

 conclusion of the back cast, see Plate XXXVII. 



A pause, slightly longer than that made with the single- 

 handed rod, is necessary to allow the line sufficient time to 

 extend itself behind the fisherman, and at the end of this 

 pause the forward cast should be made. 



THE FORWARD CAST 



The left hand is the dominant power in the forward cast 

 and pulls the butt end of the rod horizontally backward 



