120 FLOATING FLIES 



length between the reel and the first guide of 

 the rod. This loop of line is controlled by the 

 left hand, allowing the line to run out through 

 the guides or, when necessary, drawing it back. 

 Use the reel only when the loop of line grows 

 so long that, when you are wading the stream, 

 there is danger of fouling the line. When cast- 

 ing from a boat or canoe there is little chance 

 of fouling the line no matter what the length 

 of the loop may be if you take pains to lay 

 down the line evenly on the bottom boards. 



Now when you hook a trout you do not, at 

 this very critical point, have to pass the rod 

 from the right to the left hand and, what is 

 worse, turn the rod over so that the reel will 

 be on top. On the contrary, you " stand pat," 

 as it were, still keeping the rod in the right hand 

 and, if the trout is a large one, yielding the line 

 to him through the thumb and forefinger of the 

 left hand, or, if the fish is a small one, gradually 

 drawing in the line and the trout with the 

 left hand without recourse to the reel. When 

 stripping in the line, clip it to the handgrasp of 

 the rod between the first and second fingers of 

 the rod-hand. 



If the trout is a fairly large one and is 

 hooked in fast water it will often happen that 

 his first run will exhaust the loop of free line. 

 Then, when he stops running, pass the rod 



