LOXG CASTS. 15T 



times the length of the rod, and every yard which he be- 

 comes able to cast over that is good work ; he should re- 

 member however that long casting is one thing, but to fish 

 a long cast properly is quite another. Many anglers may 

 throw sixteen or seventeen or even more yards of line who- 

 cannot fish it. It is only the thoroughly experienced fly- 

 fisher who can fish these long casts properly. A green 

 hand may by dint of raising his hand to the level of the- 

 crown of his hat and slashing away at the imminent risk 

 of tackle and everything else, be able to get it out some- 

 how. But what a spectacle he becomes when, failing to- 

 get such a length of line off the water properly, he finds 

 one of the flies in his whiskers and the other perhaps fast 

 in his creel or an adjacent bush. Let the young angler be- 

 content with doing ivhat he does do well ; increasing his- 

 range of practice by little and slow degrees, and making 

 sure fishing of every extra foot he gains. I consider any- 

 thing over twenty yards a very long throw with a single- 

 handed rod, and there is not an angler in a thousand that 

 can throw it; while, of those who can throw it (properly ), 

 not one in a hundred can fish it. In long throws, the 

 difficulty lies in getting the line quickly and neatly off 

 the water, and for this purpose, of course, the draw should 

 be made much sooner than in short throws. All casts with 

 the single-handed rod should be made with the forearm. 

 The upper arm should never come into play ; the elbow- 

 should be kept not quite close to the side, but near it, and 

 always down ; and, in casting, the top joint should be- 

 allowed to do its full work. If this be judiciously attended 

 to, the angler will find that even for long throws very little 

 more force than usual is required ; indeed, the less force- 

 used the better. The great proportion of anglers use double 

 the force that would be needed to cast a much longer and 

 lighter line than they do cast. 



I will now suppose the angler to have acquired the art 



