64 THE FINE ART OF FISHING 



of the wrist, and the rod should come down closer to 

 the water than in the usual overhead cast. The wind 

 cast will put out the line a fair fishing distance under 

 very adverse conditions, but it is tiring and particularly 

 hard on a light fly-rod. However, it is well worth 

 knowing. It sometimes happens that trout will be 

 found rising very freely on a windy, blustering day, 

 even when they have shown no interest in the artificials 

 under presumably more favorable conditions. Using 

 this cast you will have fair success when the other 

 fellow is climbing trees after his flies or sitting behind 

 a fence waiting for the wind to go down and the 

 wind never goes down. 



In the side cast the rod travels back in the back cast 

 parallel with the water and not far above the waist-line ; 

 the rod hand must be kept down low 

 e back of the hand toward the 



p 



water. The line should be thrown back- 



ward traveling three or four feet above the surface of 

 the stream, and the forward cast must be started 

 quickly and timed correctly, since the line has only a 

 little distance to fall before striking the water. The 

 latter contingency should be avoided for several reasons, 

 and of these not the least important is that you are 

 liable to rise a trout when the flies strike behind you 

 a very disconcerting situation and one liable to result 

 in a smash-up. I have seen this happen several times. 



The side cast should always be used where over- 

 hanging branches invite a hang-up even when by taking 

 chances and using the overhead cast you might gain 

 greater distance. Under such conditions it is better to 



