THE SPEY CAST. 347 



places, cannot be insisted upon too strongly. But in more than one 

 direction the improved and creditable method affords great pleasure to 

 the artist engaged. For, if while fishing a shy pool over again, he reaps 

 no benefit by reason of his former care and dexterity, he certainly retires 

 with the satisfactory knowledge that his successor on it will fish in water 

 comparatively undisturbed. We ought all to hold the opinion that this is 

 no trifling satisfaction to veterans ever mindful of the interests of others. 

 There is yet another practical advantage derived, for when propelled 

 above the water, the line carries out coils drawn from the winch for the 

 purpose of " shooting." Perhaps the chances for the novice using a Spey 

 rod of coming to grief in this respect are somewhat numerous, for as it 

 happens the most diligent enthusiast would not pledge himself to manage 

 more than half the length accomplished with ease and success by the 

 Overhand method with our style of rod. Still a yard is a yard, and must 

 help to preserve the rod's action. 



But to continue. The "S" motion maybe said to terminate and 

 the down-cast to commence at the same point as in the Overhand Cast. 

 And, to be very explicit, the course of the point of the rod almost from 

 start to finish is distinguished by the dotted line. 



The reader will observe, that to bring the line under efficient control 

 it has been first raised from the stream as much as possible by lifting 

 the rod high in the air. But it should be borne in mind that the Angler 

 then proceeds without delay, and uses just sufficient power to bring the line 

 from the water (by the motion of the rod as described) so that it strikes 

 the surface momentarily at the mark X in No. 2 illustration. 



The benefit generally derived from so lifting the rod in the pre- 

 liminary process is manifest the less line in the water, the less force in 

 withdrawing it, and the less chance of failure in propelling it, because the 

 fly-end strikes the water at the proper place. The long Spey rod, 

 therefore, claims a slight advantage over ours when any great length of 

 line is in use. But in actually propelling the line, our style of rod has far 

 greater power against a breeze (in fact, a Spey rod has little or none), and 

 you can either cast or throw with it an advantage that can hardly be 

 over-estimated in certain cramped places on unfavourable days. Throwing 

 a Salmon fly is, however, a practice passionately denounced on Spey side 



