THROWING THE LINE AND FLIES. 11 



all the minutiae of the art if he does not, we 

 conclude that he is a tyro. That, reader, you 

 may not long remain in this latter category, if, in- 

 deed, you do belong to it at all, let there be during 

 the fly-fishing season, for you, nulla dies sine lined. 

 I can see no wonderful difficulty in throwing a 

 line well. Many certainly do not do so, by rea- 

 son, chiefly, of having adopted a bad method at the 

 outset. It is better to have no fly-fishing habit 

 at all, than to have a bad one. Commence on 

 the proper principle; persevere, and you must 

 become a proficient. 



HOW TO THROW THE LlNE AND FLIES. 



You are a beginner, I presume, and have never 

 handled a rod before. Let the rod for your 

 novitiate be eleven feet long ; its play inclining 

 rather to faulty stiffness, than to over-pliancy. Put 

 the joints or pieces together, the rings standing in 

 a straight line the one to the other, that your line 

 may run evenly between them without any tor- 

 tuous impediment. Put on your winch or reel 

 with its handle towards the left side, and draw 

 out your -line through the rings, until there be 

 about four yards of it out from beyond the last 

 ring of the top joint. You have now quite suf- 

 ficient line out to commence the practice of cast- 

 ing with it. Let your winch and the rings of your 

 rod be on the under side of it when you practise 

 casting. 



