342 THE SALMON FLY. 



byes. And, it may be incidentally said that, in fishing from, or very near, 

 the bank, visible signs of wear and tear of the line soon become apparent. 

 The mischief proceeds from hitching up in bushes, or coming in contact 

 with other more serious obstructions pebbles, rocks and the like. But 

 as soon as the general principle of the cast is understood, the method 

 might be practised in one's room with a stick and a piece of string, or on 

 one's lawn with a rod and a short line.) 



By our ordinary way of bringing the rod round, the delaying influence 

 of the water upon the portion of the line that strikes it helps to make the 

 tug perpetual, the immense importance of which is instantly realised at 

 the critical moment of making the thrash -down. The veriest tyro will 

 understand what I mean by attending closely to the following minute 

 particulars. He will understand : (1) That the mere fact of bringing the 

 rod back must cause the line to tug the point of it. (2) That the strength 

 of the tug, though moderated in slightly lowering the point of the rod 

 outwards, is yet compensated for by the reduced speed of the line caused 

 by coming in contact with the water. 



From a nearly perpendicular position the rod slightly ascends before 

 descending, and is brought round so that at no time it reaches more than 

 the angle of about 45 degrees. Brought round at a lower angle the rod 

 causes an unnecessarily large backward bow in the line. If, however, a 

 cast has to be made actually across the water, the fly must strike the 

 surface much further out than usual, in which case the line forms a very 

 large bow almost opposite the Angler rather than behind him. 



Speaking generally and familiarly, if you don't pick the line up clean 

 ancl don't place the fly sufficiently up-stream, the line splashes the water 

 in reaching its final destination. In fact, when the cast is made perfectly 

 the fly beats the rapid current a little higher up than the Angler, and then 

 he is able to propel the line, not along, but altogether above the surface, 

 if he wishes to do so. The faster the current the less time must the line 

 rest on the water, if, indeed, it should be allowed to rest at all, even in 

 the steadiest stream. And it stands to reason that an accelerated current 

 demands a proportionately quick effort to make a suitable cast over it ; 

 but this quicker cast will not be found as difficult as that suited to the 

 slower stream. 



