368 THE SALMON FLY. 



the rod is checked by a firm grasp (Illustration 2), when the line is left to 

 work its own success or failure. 



With these instructions before him the reader will probably recognize 

 that the object of the "Peter" is to clear the near portion of the 

 line from the destructive influence of eddying waters, and to compel the 

 line to tug the point of the rod in order to regulate its action, keep 

 its point within bounds, and render -the thrash-down practicable and 

 efficient. 



(The situations in which the " Switch " is necessary are few. They 

 are when neither the rod nor the line can be extended for more than eight 

 or ten feet in the rear of the Angler.) 



In proportion to the effect of the "Peter," the calculation is made of 

 the force wanted for the thrash-down. 



Now and then, for instance, the current, by flowing in all manner of 

 ways, causes the line to lie on the surface in a zig-zag form, whereby it is 

 rendered uncontrollable. In such a case the "Peter" is simple and 

 immediately successful, and the thrash-down is effected in the usual 

 manner of the cast. But where we encounter a sharp eddy, swirling 

 under the rod, outwards, a satisfactory result is not so readily attained, 

 or, at all events, without a much more forceful "Peter" than in the 

 former case. Even then, unless effected in time, only a portion of 

 the disarranged line, which the eddy has seized, may be cleared from 

 the mischief, and in that case the force needed for the thrash-down 

 must be increased accordingly. If the still greater mischief should 

 arise from a swirl that dashes the line inwards, the modus operandi 

 changes. 



Take by way of illustration, a man fishing right-handed. The line 

 having been thus hustled towards the bank, the Angler shifts the rod 

 like lightning into the left hand, hurries the "Peter," and, without 

 further change or perceptive cause, completes the whole business, then 

 and there. 



What I very much want to point out in Petering is the one risk the 

 inexperienced run. In all cases, the greatest care must be taken lest 

 too much of the back portion of the running line be removed from the 

 .surface, or the second state will be worse than the first. The line has to 



