258 ON SALMON-FISHING WITH THE FLY. 



a mode of throwing not adapted to fly-fishing, it is 

 impossible for the angler to command a range of cast 

 exceeding twenty-seven yards from the spot whence he 

 plies his hook. It is, I admit, quite practicable for him, 

 in the act of throwing, to let out a yard or even two of 

 line more than he is able to lift or recover; but, by 

 doing so, he only imposes upon himself the necessity 

 of using the reel or winch before repeating his cast, in 

 order to shorten or again accommodate the line to 

 the power of his lever. 



I might readily, were I so inclined, dilate upon this 

 subject with more order and ceremony, but I have no 

 wish to treat of it in a plenary or philosophical manner, 

 by disquisition or diagram, as if it merited the special 

 attention of the angler. All I desire to be observed is 

 and the fact bears its own explanation among the 

 axioms of mechanical law that the length of the lever 

 or lifting power comprised in the rod and its wielder, 

 regulates to all intents and purposes the distance to 

 which the fly can be hove. The action of the arm and 

 muscles, the weight of the line, the make and pliancy 

 of the rod, and the propelling or repelling virtue of 

 the air when in motion, its resistance, and many other 

 causes, act, there is no doubt, to the advantage or pre- 

 judice of the cast taken; but the lever power, when 

 used as a power of recovery, is affected by them to an 

 extent easily calculated on, and, on the whole, they can 

 only act as very subservient aids or drawbacks to the 

 exercise of that power. 



THE WORKING OF THE LINE AND FLY. In what 

 are properly called pools, that is, the terminations of 

 streams or sluggish water that can only be fished over 

 with effect when rippled by wind, it is generally expe- 

 dient to direct the fly across, almost at right angles with 



