22 PRACTICAL BAIT CASTING 



he is persistent, the beginner will soon find that his 

 "back lashes" become beautifully less and less frequent 

 although few casters ever are free from them entirely. 

 The principal causes of back lashes are unevenly spooled 

 lines and attempting to cast too far. The line must be 

 felt by the thumb during the entire cast, and in at- 

 tempting to throw his weight a great distance, the be- 

 ginner unconsciously removes his thumb entirely from 

 the reel, and, of course, a tangle is the result. 



In the forward cast the rod is whipped forward 

 smartly but easily, the speed increasing as the rod moves 

 forward, the cast ending with a snap of the wrist, un- 

 less a very stiff rod is used, in which case a full arm 

 swing is necessary. In making this forward cast, the 

 rod is held so that the back of the hand and the 

 handle of the reel are pointing almost straight up, the 

 reason for this being that the line renders better through 

 *the guides with less danger of it clinging to the rod and 

 because the reel runs more smoothly and easily in that 

 position. At the finish of the cast, the thumb is 

 clamped down tightly on the spool of the reel, and the 

 rod is pointing upward at an angle of about 45 degrees. 



As the forward cast is being made, the left hand is 

 partially extended, and while the weight is still in the 

 air, or the instant it lands, the rod is shifted to the left 

 hand. The rear end of the reel is held in the palm of 

 the left hand, the four fingers wrapped around the rod 

 directly under the reel, and the thumb guides the line 

 evenly on the reel. Usually the tension of the bait is 



