262 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 



your fly may first fall upon the water, and as little of your line 

 with it as is possible : though, if the wind be stiff, you will 

 then of necessity, be compelled to drown a good part of your 

 line, to keep your fly in the water. And in casting your fly you 

 must aim at the farther, or nearer bank, as the wind serves 

 your turn, which also will be with and against you, on the same 

 side, several times in an hour, as the river winds in its course, 

 and you will be forced to angle up and down by turns accordingly, 

 but are to endeavour, as much as you can, to have the wind 

 evermore on your back. And always be sure to stand as far 

 off the bank as the length will give you leave, when you throw 

 to the contrary side : though when the wind will not permit you 

 so to do, and that you are constrained to angle on the same side 

 whereon you stand, you must then stand on the very brink of 

 the river, and cast your fly at the utmost length of your rod 

 and line, up or down the river, as the gale serves. 



It only remains, touching your line, to inquire whether your 

 two hairs next to the hook are better twisted or open ? And 

 for that I should declare, that I think the open way the better, 

 because it makes less show in the water, but that I have found 

 an inconvenience, or two, or three, that have made me almost 

 weary of that way ; of which, one is, that, without dispute, they 

 are not so strong open as twisted ; another, that they are not 

 easily to be fastened of so exact an equal length in the arming 

 that the one will not cause the other to bag, by which means a 

 man has but one hair upon the matter to trust to ; and the 

 last is, that these loose flying hairs are not only more apt to 

 catch upon every twig or bent they meet with, but moreover, 

 the hook, in falling upon the water, will, very often, rebound 

 and fly back betwixt the hairs, and there stick (which, in a 

 rough water especially, is not presently to be discerned by the 



for a learner to practise with. And observe, that in raising your line, in 

 order to throw it again, you should wave the rod a little round your head, 

 and not bring it directly backwards : nor must you return the line too 

 soon, nor until it has streamed its full length behind you, or you will 

 certainly whip oft' your end fly. There is great art in making your line 

 fall light on the water, and shewing the flies well to the fish. The best 

 way that I can direct is, that when you have thrown out your line, 

 contriving to let it fall lightly and naturally, you should raise your rod 

 gently, and by degrees ; sometimes with a kind of gentle tremulant flourish, 

 which will bring the flies on a little towards you ; still letting them go 

 down with the stream, but never draw them against it, for it is unnatural ; 

 and before the line comes too near you, throw out again. When you see 

 a fish rise at a natural fly, throw about a yard above him, but not directly 

 over his head ; and let your fly (or flies) move gently towards him, which 

 will shew it to him in a more natural form, and tempt him the more to 

 take it. Experience and observation alone, however, can make an angler 

 a complete adept in the art, so as to enable him to throw his fly behind 

 bushes and trees, into holes, under banks, and other places mentioned as 

 the Trout's haunts, and where the best fish are to be found. Taylor's 

 Art of Angling. 



