352 THE SALMON FLY. 



method is a bold undertaking, and demands a ready ability on the part of 

 those who would become proficient in it. . Capricious incidents render the 

 work always difficult and sometimes impossible, as no one will be found 

 to deny. And yet, considering all things, perhaps it calls for more close 

 attention than for extraordinary skill. I noticed this particularly a few 

 years since on the Upper Wye, where I was much struck by the skill 

 displayed by quite a young Angler. 



The great and indeed the only objection that I have seen brought 

 forward against the Wind Cast may be summed up in one brief 

 statement : The experiment is costly. It is said to favour the tradesman 

 more than the Fisherman. Rods will break but. may not this be 

 attributed to the fault of the wood, to personal inexperience, or more 

 probably to the sudden vacillations of the wind, which, by-the-bye, 

 beginners are apt to forget. There are rods and rods. '-Some crooked 

 grained ones break at little provocation ; others cleaved from' the plank 

 like my own stand the roughest usage. It certainly is " rough on a rod " 

 to hurriedly lift a buried line, as examination of the method will soon 

 show. It certainly is still more rough on a rod to undergo excessive 

 pressure in the .thrash-down, particularly when its action is not steadied 

 by the counter influence of the tug of the line. And this, unfortunately, 

 is of no uncommon experience. But where should we be unless the line 

 were lifted quick as thought (if I may adopt the expression) ; or again, in 

 the absence of that indispensable pressure needed to procure sufficient action 

 of the butt. 



I have seen novices, irritated to a degree, break rod after rod simply 

 because they forget these facts. But I always notice that close attention 

 and a constant repetition of melancholy failures is, at any rate, a means 

 of fixing them indelibly in their memories. Old Fuller says, that to try 

 and remember a forgotten condition, a man should scratch his head. 

 Another literary authority writes : 



" No wonder that our memories are bad, 

 We neither bite our rails nor scratch our head." 



But would not these morbid expedients be waste of an Angler's time ? 

 All we can do is, to keep our wits about us, for, whatever may happen, 



