THE RISE 67 



leader is lessened, and the chance of his taking 

 it not a bit. 



Where a long cast is required, the line should 

 never be extended to the length required to 

 reach the fish. The distance should be mea- 

 sured carefully, and, when the fly in the false or 

 air casts reaches a point five or six feet from 

 the fish, that much line which should be 

 stripped from the reel and held in the left 

 hand should be allowed to pass through the 

 guides on the next forward cast. This is called 

 shooting the line. Not only is it of great as- 

 sistance in attaining accuracy, but the momen- 

 tum imparted to the "live" line, that part al- 

 ready clear of the top, is lost and does not 

 travel down to the fly, which, shorn of impulse, 

 remains suspended for an instant above the 

 water and falls thereon as lightly as the pro- 

 verbial feather. 



The fly should never be aimed directly at the 

 water, but at an imaginary point three or four 

 feet above, and a like distance in advance 

 of, the spot it is desired to reach. This di- 

 rection must be implicitly observed in this 

 method of casting, because the fly will invari- 

 ably fall short unless a greater length of line 

 be used than is apparently necessary. Very 



