A DAY'S FISHING 53 



a friend will hold it in his hand and as the strike is 

 made walk rapidly towards the striker, the relative value of 

 the above methods will become even more pronounced. 



Should the three methods I have suggested thus be 

 practised, it will be found that the first is the best and 

 safest. No contretemps can possibly happen. 



In the second method the disadvantage is that, if the same 

 distance in the coming cast has to be reached as in the 

 latest cast, some false casts have to be made, during which 

 the line has to be pulled off the reel again before the full 

 length required for the final cast is obtained. 



In the third method, which is simply raising the rod when 

 picking up the slack line, should the rod approach the 

 vertical before the fish rises, it will, at the conclusion of the 

 strike, be pointing backward over the shoulder, instead 

 of pointing upward and forward, and the control of the line 

 by the reel may become impossible and handlining will have 

 to be adopted. 



In your latest effort at the trout I directed you to raise 

 the point of your rod because we were aiming at a definite 

 fish, and your fly had not to travel for any distance before it 

 had floated below your fish and another cast was advisable, 

 but where you are fishing the stream, that is not casting to 

 a rising fish, it is always best to let your fly come well back 

 down-stream towards you, in order perchance to cover a 

 possible fish which you may not have seen rise. This means, 

 however, taking in a great deal of slack either with your finger 

 and thumb, or on your reel, and of the two the latter is, I 

 think, the better way. 



HANDLINING 



f< Handlining " a method of gathering in the line with 

 the hands instead of by the reel should not be adopted 

 except in cases of unavoidable difficulty, otherwise a slovenly 



