STRIKING GENTLY RECOMMENDED. 27 



Striking too strongly is a shocking fault, and, as 

 it is generally joined with the defect of striking 

 too quickly, double mischief ensues. You either 

 miss your fish, or whip it out of the water awk- 

 wardly, or injure your tackle, if the fish be a 

 heavy one. This strong rapid way of striking 

 shews the absence of that delicacy of action and 

 management without which you can never become 

 an accomplished fly-fisher. 



The moment you see or feel a rise, you must 

 strike gently from the wrist, by a slight, sharp 

 jerk of it backwards. As a general rule, strike 

 sideways a little, and not straight towards you to 

 the right most commonly but you must be guided 

 by a guess as to which way the fish is about to 

 turn on seizing your fly. If you fancy he is going 

 to turn round to his left, you must strike at him 

 neatly towards your right : if you think him on 

 the turn from left to right, strike to your left. 

 By pursuing this plan, you will avoid the proba- 

 bility of chucking the fly clean out of the fish's 

 mouth, or of pricking him only, and you will very 

 likely hook him, perhaps through and through, on 

 either the right or left side of the mouth. A fish 

 very frequently takes your fly under water, and 

 then you merely feel a rise. Be in such case 

 somewhat quick, yet strike as gently as possible 

 quick, lest the fish reject the fly, gentle, for he is 

 already almost hooked. Those who are for strik- 



