THE ART OF CASTING 



ward-cast as the time "when the line first begins 

 to pull on the rod," and not when it has straight- 

 ened out behind the time-honored injunction 

 that one hitherto has invariably encountered. 

 We have taken the pains to emphasize this here 

 because the following paragraph in Mr. Camp's 

 excellent treatise, The Fine Art of Fishing, is of 

 especial interest to the present writer since it 

 confirms his own observations of expert fly- 

 casters on the stream, under favoring conditions 

 of light that permitted every inch of the rod 

 and line to be seen; and it is the first time that 

 he has noted such confirmation in print. 



"I have suggested," says Mr. Camp, "wait- 

 ing for the line to straighten out behind the 

 caster in the back-cast, that is before beginning 

 the forward-cast. Instantaneous photographs of 

 expert casters, however, show that in actual 

 practise the line does not entirely straighten 

 out in the rear before the forward-cast is started; 

 that, in fact, there is a considerable loop at the 

 end of the line which straightens out just after 

 the caster begins the forward-cast. [See illus- 

 tration, "Expert dry-fly caster at work." It 

 is from a pencil portrait, by Louis Rhead, of 

 that accomplished angler G. M. L. La Branche. 

 He is shown as having started the forward- 

 cast; note the end of the line.] The theory of 

 this is quite plain. If, when casting a rather 

 long line, you wait until the line becomes quite 



