Fish and Fishing 



again, a little above the place where he rose, and, 

 if that fails, try a little lower down the stream. 

 Then, if he still comes not, try a smaller fly of the 

 same pattern, followed by the various patterns, 

 as a last resort; leave him and try again in the 

 evening. Always be careful the fly does not swim 

 on its back or side." 



In the larger rivers most of the fishing is done 

 from a boat or canoe, which renders unnecessary 

 the employment of switching, or the various 

 underhand casts without a knowledge of which 

 angling for salmon would be practically impossible 

 in many British rivers. 



The overhand or ordinary cast is made by lift- 

 ing the line out of the water to the end where the 

 fly is, and throwing it out behind to its full length 

 before casting it forward. This is the most im- 

 portant part of casting, because 



if there is a slack line at the time 

 of the forward cast, the fly is fre- 

 quently snapped off, and the line and fly alight in 

 front in a tangled mass, far in direction and dis- 

 tance from where they should. In raising the line 

 from the water, a little jerk should be given, just as 

 the fly leaves the surface, which makes it travel up 

 and back much faster than it otherwise would, and 

 prevents the line from hitting the ground or the 

 water on the back cast. It is desirable that the 

 straightened-out line behind should not fall to a 

 lower level than the angler's head, and if kept 

 higher than that it is better. The rod on the back 

 cast, to accomplish this, should go as little as may 

 150 



