CASTING THE FLY nt 



one he has on or to vary it. I find it most convenient to wind 

 my cast round my hat, as it makes a larger coil and does not 

 require soaking to take the turns out, and I find the fly hat- 

 band, which I invented some years since and gave to Mr. 

 Farlow, of great service, as spare and stray flies can be looped 

 on and safely stuck into it without damage to gut or hook- 

 point, and when it is not wanted the band can be taken off 

 and put away. 



Having selected his flies and affixed them to his casting 

 line, we will suppose the angler at the river side : approaching 

 the bank with caution, let him choose the most likely spot to 

 commence operations. Before commencing, however, he 

 should be sure to see that his casting line is thoroughly straight 

 and even with no bends or turns in it, as these will cause an 

 unnatural glitter on the line, and displacement of the water. 

 Now, there are two ways of fly-fishing, viz. with the dry 

 fly and with the wet fly. Some fishermen always use one plan, 

 others almost as pertinaciously use the other. To use either 

 of them invariably is wrong. Sometimes the one will be 

 found to kill best and sometimes the other. In fine waters, 

 particularly in the southern counties, where fly-fishing for 

 trout is certainly more of a systematic art that it is in the 

 north, the dry fly is greatly used, and with very deadly effect 

 at times. In very calm, bright, and still weather, when a wet 

 fly will often be useless, the dry fly will be taken most con- 

 fidingly. In rough, windy weather the wet fly is preferable, 

 but I shall return to this subject presently. At present, as 

 the angler is supposed to be a novice, he will hardly commence 

 with the dry fly as it is rather more difficult to fish with than 

 the wet. We will suppose that he has soaked his gut by 

 allowing it to remain some minutes in the water. Old or used 

 gut will soak much quicker than new indeed, the angler 

 will often find a good deal of trouble in getting new gut 

 properly soaked. In this case, having wet it, he should draw 

 it through his fingers, but not too roughly lest he fray the 

 gut, then wet it again, and repeat the drawing and wetting 

 until it becomes pliable. 



Standing with his face rather up-stream, he must let off 

 about as much or a little more line than his rod's length, 

 and poising the rod in his right hand in almost an upright 

 position with a slight forward slant, and holding the stretcher- 

 fly between his left finger and thumb a little wide of his body 

 so as to clear it, wave the rod gently back over his right 



