FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 

 cast again. Then, again, if I struck a good fish when winding in I was 

 ready to play it at once, whereas if he struclc one he had perhaps fifteen 

 or twenty yards of fine line bunched up in his left hand, and sometimes 

 had an anxious time until he got it so he could wind in, especially if the 

 fish came in towards him. But he rather enjoyed overcoming difficulties 

 of that kind, and I never saw him lose a good fish from that cause, 

 hardly, indeed, from any actual break except in striking; he used such 

 fine gimp that now and then the teeth of a heavy pike cut it when he 

 tightened on the fish. 



THE SCHOOLING DOUBLE-HAND OVERHEAD CAST 



This is so well illustrated and described in the pamphlet which Messrs 

 Allcock & Co., of Redditch, will send to any angler who writes for it, that 

 a long description is not necessary. One of the great difficulties I encoun- 

 tered, when learning to cast from the American multiplier casting reel, 

 was to time the *' release " properly, i.e., to take the thumb off the line 

 on the barrel of the reel at the proper moment. When using the Schooling 

 direct overhead double -hand cast I use my ordinary Jardine pike rod 

 (in sea fishing I use one of Mr Schooling's special patterns, with long 

 cork handle and movable reel seat), with an American multiplier or 

 other casting reel fixed on the butt, so it is on top of the rod, between 

 the hand grips when I am winding in, with handles towards my right 

 hand. The long cork grip and absence of metal fittings is very comforting 

 in frosty weather. Holding the rod, with the bait wound up to within a 

 couple of feet or so of the rod point, you grasp the cork butt well forward 

 with the right hand, with the thumb pressed on the top of the rod and the 

 line held between the thumb and the cork (in heavy weight casting I use a 

 kid glove thumbstall on both thumbs). The left hand grips the rod below 

 the reel so that the thumb can rest on the bar of the reel, and at the same 

 time, when necessary, can press on the line on the barrel to check it gently 

 as the bait flies out, and stop it suddenly at end of the cast. Then I put the 

 rod over and behind me, much as one would do if one had to chop a head 

 off with a two-handed sword. The rod points out horizontally behind me, 

 the bait hanging down. To cast, I drop the point down a little more behind, 

 and then bring it, not with a jerk, but with a steady strong sweep over- 

 head, and then, just at the right second, the line releases itself from between 

 my thumb and the cork handle, the reel starts with the pull, and the bait 

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