CASTING 143 



EXTENDING THE CAST 



In learning to cast, the novice should, from the be- 

 ginning, learn to use his left hand to hold and manipu- 

 late the line stripped from the reel. To extend the 

 cast the caster merely lets go this stripped line near 

 the end of the forward cast and it " shoots " through 

 the guides or, if he learns a high back cast, he can pay 

 out some of this line on the back cast like the dry fly 

 fishermen do it. This is repeated until the desired 

 length of line is out. From this it will be seen that 

 the big difference, from the fishing standpoint, be- 

 tween bait casting and fly fishing is that the fly caster 

 fishes the near water first. 



PRACTICE 



When first taking up casting the beginner uses mus- 

 cles that are not accustomed to such work so his periods 

 of practice must not be too long at first; as he pro- 

 gresses he finds it less tiring and he also notices that, 

 as he gains in skill, less effort is needed to get out a 

 reasonable length of line. 



FOR ADVANCED PUPILS 



When the young fly fisher learns the mere mechani- 

 cal process of casting a fly he may believe he is a full- 

 fledged fly caster. At this stage of his education ac- 

 curacy and delicacy mean little to him and fly fishing 

 strategy less. 



As soon as the novice has learned how to make a cast 



