316 FLY FISHING AND SPINNING 



It is now necessary to consider the manner in which the 

 Salmon rod* should be held, the position of the body, the 

 angles through which it should move, and the method of 

 applying the necessary force in the backward and forward 

 casts and the position of the reel. 



THE POSITION OF THE SALMON REEL 



In salmon fly casting, if the fisherman uses most commonly 

 the right-hand cast that is, the cast in which the right hand 

 is uppermost the handle of his reel should be facing the 

 left hand, for he can then most readily use it when fishing 

 out a cast, or when playing a fish, without shifting his right 

 or upper hand. The butt of the rod can rest either in the 

 belt socket, or against the body, while the left hand easily 

 controls the line and reel. If the left-hand cast is generally 

 used, the handle of the reel should face toward the right. 

 If both right and left hand casts are equally employed in 

 casting, then the position of the handle of the reel may be 

 left to individual choice. 



THE SALMON ROD 



The student should always bear in mind that in every 

 method of casting with a salmon rod, the rod has to move 

 through the same angles and with similar relative velocities 

 as the trout rod, when it is employed in making the same 

 kind of cast, and a study of the casts described under the 

 head of trout casting, Chapter X., will greatly facilitate 

 the ability to cast perfectly with a salmon rod.f 



The salmon rod is held by the two hands, about two feet 

 apart, one being above and the other below the reel. 



* For convenience I shall allude to the double-handed rod as the salmon 

 rod. 



f Francis Francis says : " A good trout fisher will easily become an expert 

 at salmon fishing, but a very respectable practitioner with the salmon rod 

 will have all his schooling to do afresh, before he can take rank as a master 

 of the art." A Book on Angling, 1885. 



