" FIDDLING." 325 



an acute angle in the line at the point A as well as at point B. The 

 force of the water at the lower part B prevents the feat of shooting being 

 accomplished. This is easily remedied by the Angler seizing the winch 

 end of the dropped coils at the point C, and giving with his lower hand 

 so placed a good snatch so as to bring the whole of the slack part back 

 under the bottom ring of the rod, when it will all shoot out as readily as 

 on land. Thus it will be understood how much the action of the rod can 

 be preserved, and, by this cast, how much more water can be 

 covered. 



This extra length of line, however, often results in a good deal of it 

 getting " drowned " sucked to too great a depth below the surface. 

 When this occurs, the excessive resistance offered by the water impedes 

 the recovery of the line, which refuses to be lifted ; but this opposition of 

 the water is counteracted by what is known as " fiddling " the line. 

 Fiddling is accomplished by beating the point of the rod up and down, 

 just before the fly gets to its final station in neutral water. The process 

 may be best described in the following way : 



The short, sharp beats are continuous and are all strong enough to 

 kill a small bird perched on a post at a convenient distance from the 

 Angler. They cause a sort of coil in the line, which seems to run along 

 the surface of the water, and so raise or keep the fly-end near the surface. 

 This explanation may be taken as the practical interpretation of " fiddling" 

 the line, and unless the Angler is using such a rod as the " Traherne " 

 pattern, which is noted for its power of lifting, he should hardly ever make 

 a long Overhand cast without as much of the performance as the nature 

 of the stream suggests. 



In quitting our remarks on the " Overhand," I would remind the 

 student that, apart from questions relating to stature whether the man 

 be very tall or even very short the line should be made to whistle 

 through the air and that the least amount of strength should be applied 

 for the accomplishment. Whatever the line may be, the action of the 

 rod is an all-important consideration, as I have already endeavoured to 

 show. The Angler must be properly appointed. No decent Overhand 

 cast can be made, for instance, with such tackle as that commonly used 

 on the Spey. The Spey rod is exceedingly whippy and useful, and as 



