320 THE SALMON FLY. 



" I think I understand you from beginning to end, but practice is the 

 thing I want. I mean to master the lifting first ; it won't take me long 

 to send the line ' up towards that cloud,' and then I'll try and perfect 

 myself in the thrash-down. The method must be learnt by degrees, or 

 else I'm mistaken." 



"That is an excellent conclusion to arrive at; but remember here 

 is the chief point remember the necessity for looking behind; you 

 understand the object of it, and believe me, your progress towards 

 efficiency and your complete success entirely depend upon it. Practice it 

 even when you become proficient, or you will soon fall into bad habits." 

 # * * * 



Now, I refer to this lesson not only because it illustrates the 

 difficulties which the novice encounters in attempting the cast, but 

 because it also explains details which are not given, so far as I am aware, 

 in any book hitherto published on the subject. Modern authors, as we 

 know, abound with information on playing, striking and gaffing, all of 

 which might be learnt and written by a punt Fisherman with merely 

 Thames experience. 



The first point for beginners to study, is the position both of the legs 

 and body. This varies according to circumstances. On land, or in easy 

 flowing streams, the Angler should stand fairly upright, his body being 

 sideways to the run of the stream and facing the spot on which he 

 desires his fly to alight that is to say, alighting across the current at an 

 angle of 45 degrees or thereabouts. The left foot in right-hand casting 

 should be in advance of the other and point in the desired direction of 

 the cast, while in left-hand casting the right foot is similarly advanced. 

 This position ensures the proper balance of the body during the effort 

 required to make the cast. But in rapids safety has to be considered 

 before convenience. It is frequently dangerous and at times impossible to 

 fish in rapids unless the Fisherman stands altogether sideways and leans 

 against the current, the up-stream leg bent, the foot pointing somewhat 

 that way, the down-stream leg extended and the foot pointing almost in 

 the direction of the current. In moving onwards the up-stream leg 

 should always take the first short step, and when it is firmly planted, the 

 other should feel its way to a secure position. If the down-stream foot is 



