FLY FISHING FOR TROUT 3 



before a novice is able to cast a fly in anything like a satis- 

 factory manner. Such mentors might just as well advise 

 an absolute novice at cricket to don some pads, borrow a 

 bat, face the bowling and fielding of an Australian eleven, 

 and slog away until he has made a century, or acquired the 

 skill of a Grace or a Palairet. 



How many fishermen can say that they owe nothing to 

 the advice or assistance of others in their attempts at handling 

 the rod ? To my infinite delight I caught a trout when 

 only four years of age, but my father was there all the 

 time ; and although I have since then fished for over fifty 

 years and in most parts of the world, I never realized how 

 absolute is the science which controls a perfect method of 

 fly and bait casting until within the last few years, and 

 until I had spent those years in perfecting the casting of 

 others. 



THE NECESSITY OF LEARNING HOW TO CAST 



With every respect, then, for the fishing abilities of the 

 writer above quoted, I am fully persuaded that the one thing 

 a novice can and should do before he goes down to " scare 

 the trout " is to learn the art of casting a fly. 



Not only should the novice endeavour to obtain instruc- 

 tion, but it might well repay the experienced fisherman to 

 find out whether he can improve his style and acquire 

 absolute accuracy in his casting, and even if the expert be 

 well satisfied in these respects, to ascertain whether there 

 may not be other styles of casting which might help him to 

 get his fly to any desired spot under circumstances and 

 against difficulties which have hitherto appeared to him to 

 be insurmountable. Since my first work on Fly Fishing 

 was published, some fourteen years ago, I have established a 

 school for trout and salmon fly casting, and for spinning, 

 and I have had the pleasure of coaching in this school 



