DOUBTS AND DIFFICULTIES. 61 



your fly has passed over the rise without being 

 taken. 



Indeed a second and a third loop can be held 

 quite easily, and retained in the hand as you 

 walk upstream keeping the line in the air. 

 With a very little practice a series of loops can 

 be held, until the line beyond the rod point 

 becomes so shortened that you can reach and 

 examine the fly. I find this a far simpler plan, 

 especially when wading, than always winding 

 up from the reel, in spite of the fact that at 

 first it gives some trouble among thistles or 

 coarse grass owing to the loops catching in 

 them. 



Should the fly be taken, and the strike be 

 well timed, then the pulse of the situation can 

 be felt far better by the line in the left hand : 

 indeed it is like a rein in the horse's mouth. 

 You can feel what he is doing almost what he 

 is going to do, whether to bolt or to back. 



This the reel cannot impart with the same 

 certainty. If a fish immediately turns and runs 

 down stream towards you, the pulling in of the 

 line in loops, or even allowing it to fall upon 

 the ground, is a quicker process than winding 

 it up. Your hand is already upon the line, and 

 there is no need to shift the rod from one hand 

 to the other. To do this while backing down- 

 stream at the same time is the only process I 

 know to keep a firm hand upon the fish and 

 prevent losing touch with him. 



After this first rush is over, of course it is 

 advisable to recover the line upon the reel, 



