204 ELEMENTS OF ANGLING 



4in. dace a cast of forty yards is not out of the 

 question. It is not often, however, that it is 

 necessary to make such a cast as this ; indeed, the 

 shorter the cast in many cases the better, for one 

 has the bait more under control and is at once on 

 better terms with a hooked fish. In some places 

 one need not cast out at all, but can fish with a line 

 no longer than the rod. Where perch or trout lie 

 in deep water close under the bank, under the sill 

 of a small weir, or along the walls that line a mill 

 pool or quay, all one has to do is to drop the minnow 

 in, let it sink, and then draw it along close to the 

 bank or wall. Similarly, on mountain streams trout 

 often lie in some narrow cleft between rocks, where 

 the water is strong and broken, and in such places 

 they will run at a minnow drawn along almost under 

 the point of the rod. 



It is in open water that casting becomes necessary, 

 and one has to throw the minnow out and then pull 

 the line back with the hand which is not holding 

 the rod, about 2ft. at each pull. I generally hold 

 the rod with the right hand and recover line with 

 the left, and I always have the forefinger of the 

 right hand under the line as it is being drawn in,, 

 so that I can tighten as soon as I feel a run. Between 

 each pull of the left hand I give an additional pull 

 of a few inches w r ith the rod. This keeps the 



