Practical Dry-Fly Fishing 



there must be several casts in the air, 

 or "false casts," for the purpose of dry- 

 ing the fly, and lengthening the line be- 

 fore the insect again touches the water. 

 Therefore the rod should be powerful, 

 though not necessarily heavy; in fact, 

 unless one likes to have a tired wrist 

 at the end of the day, an unnecessar- 

 ily heavy rod is anything but desirable. 

 Incidentally it may be stated that it is 

 a good plan always to select a reel of 

 the exact weight to balance the rod 

 perfectly, so that the rod does not feel 

 top-heavy. 



Expert anglers will advise without 

 qualification an English water-proofed 

 silk line for dry-fly fishing. It may, 

 perhaps, hurt an American's pride to 

 feel compelled to admit that while 

 nothing can equal the best American- 

 made split-bamboo rods, there has 

 not as yet been produced a fly-line in 



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