FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 the *• Boyne " underhand cast, as I believe it first came into general use 

 among salmon anglers on the Boyne. In a rough way these three casts are 

 like the three styles of bowling a cricket ball, viz., " round arm," " over 

 arm," and " underhand." 



THE SIDE SWING 



In casting from the reel the side swing is the oldest and the most gener- 

 ally used style; with it Mr J. T. Emery held the record for long distance 

 casting for many years at our International Tournaments. It is the easiest 

 of the casts from the reel to learn, and yet I have known anglers who never 

 could get into the knack of it. I have often been reminded of the side cast 

 when looking at one of those enormous cranes one so often sees at work 

 on some building in London. The long arm represents the rod, the chain 

 and winch represent the angler's line and reel, and the bucket suspended 

 from the crane represents the angler's spinning or other bait suspended 

 from the rod. And the action is very similar; in both the swing is from 

 a pivot. The angler winds up the bait until the lead on the trace (if a lead 

 is used), hangs about a foot or eighteen inches from the top of the rod 

 (the pike float hangs in about the same position if one is live baiting), 

 the right hand grasps the butt of the rod above the reel, which is fixed 

 on underneath, with the handles to the right, the fingers of the left hand 

 close all round the reel, so that the tips of one or two can touch the re- 

 volving rim of the barrel of the reel, to hold it while you make the cast, 

 and to release the reel when the side swing has brought the rod round 

 and upwards until it points towards the place where you want to cast the 

 bait. The pressure of the fingers on the rim of the reel is removed for a 

 second just when you instinctively feel the bait has a good pull on it, and 

 is going forward; this starts the reel as the line pulls at it, and then the 

 fingers under the reel, which the left hand holds, must just touch the 

 revolving rim, so as to prevent it running round faster than the line can 

 fiow off when pulled by the bait, which is flying away through the air 

 towards your mark. If, as already explained, the reel, in revolving, over- 

 takes the line, there is an " overrun " at once and a sudden stoppage 

 of the flying bait which, if it is a live bait, is often jerked off. Towards 

 the end of the cast, when its force is nearly expended, and the bait is drop- 

 ping into the water, the finger tips are pressed tightly on the reel to stop 

 it, or there would be another ** overrun." These two are the chief causes 

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