322 THE SALMON FLY. 



first advanced, a concealed boulder may give the Angler a sore shin or an 

 untimely bath before the up-stream foot can obtain a firm hold. The 

 body should be held fairly erect throughout the cast. The novice who 

 imagines that he can propel his line to a greater distance by throwing 

 forward his body in making the thrash-down, must never think of doing 

 so in rapids. A mere glance at the man who understands the work 

 would soon satisfy him of this. 



The whole of the work must be done by the arms and the rod from 

 the butt upwards. It need hardly be said that, if the current flows from 

 the right to the left of the Fisherman as he stands facing the stream, the 

 rod is grasped with the right hand eight to twelve inches above the winch 

 so as to effect what is called " a right-hand cast." "When the current 

 flows in the opposite direction a left-hand cast is required and the 

 position of the hands is reversed. The exact distance of the upper hand 

 from the winch is determined by the balance of the rod and the 

 convenience of the Fisherman. The novice will speedily discover for 

 himself at what point he should place the upper hand so as to obtain the 

 best result with the least expenditure of force. (Fishermen should 

 accustom themselves to use either the right or the left hand as the upper 

 one with equal facility.) 



Having placed himself in the appropriate position the Angler 

 proceeds to get out his line by taking a yard or two from the winch and 

 making what is termed a few " false casts " each time. As soon as 

 sufficient line is thus extended down stream, in lifting the rod back into 

 the air, the Angler gradually gets the point well bent before the smart 

 backward turn of the wrist of the upper hand is given. The lower hand, 

 holding the rod just above the indiarubber button, is at the same time 

 brought across the chest, swinging, as it were, with the right. If the 

 lower hand is not brought back in that way, the rod will be slanting too 

 much at the time it is checked. Any undue raising of the lower hand in 

 front of the Angler, and the line falls too low in the air behind him 

 perhaps strikes the ground, in which case the hook is invariably broken 

 or blunted at the point. 



The back sweep of the rod describes in its track the outline of a narrow 

 oval. It is not semi-circular, as we are often given to understand. The 



