136 ANGLING. 



This makes the fly advance and retreat, giving to every 

 feather a life-like motion, and precisely the sort of motion 

 evinced by the shrimps and other marine creatures on 

 which the salmon feed largely in the sea, and it is supposed 

 to be very attractive to the salmon. When the line comes 

 straight down it should be withdrawn after two or three 

 jerks, and another cast made. 



Never use too much power in casting ; it is not only not 

 necessary but it is injurious, you cast the line with the 

 top and half the second joint, and very little force suffices 

 to bring this into play. If you use more, all the effect is 

 to bring the lower part of the rod into action, which has 

 very little spring compared with the top of it. Try how 

 little force you can use (not how much) to get the line out, 

 and you will be surprised how little is really needed to 

 send a straight line out. The tremendous " whoosh " that 

 one often hears from a salmon rod is quite unnecessary 

 and even objectionable. Thirty yards is a very good cast ; 

 the most I could ever manage was 34 yards, and I 

 have done that two or three times and measured it. The 

 most I ever saw cast was 38 yards, but Pat Hearns* has 

 cast over 43 yards. I never heard of anyone else doing 

 it. It is never necessary to fish over the same cast twice, 

 unless you have some special reason for it. Take a short 

 step between each cast so that you leave from two to 

 three feet between every cast, and thus you will not miss 

 an inch of the water. Though you may now and then 

 once in a way cast up stream and work down it is a very 

 rare case to get a rise from a salmon thus. Here and 

 there you may seem to do so and get a rise, but you will 

 frequently find that there is a great eddy at the spot 



* Lately dead, poor old Pat ! 



