102 ON TROUTING WITH THE FLY. 



answer the purpose. The disadvantages of a long 

 line are, that too much of it touches the water, and 

 that it is impossible to throw it as it should be done, 

 making the flies light first. It is also very difficult 

 to throw it to any desired spot with certainty to 

 cast it neatly behind a stone or under a bank ; be- 

 sides which, more time is necessary to throw it, 

 thus wasting that valuable commodity. The greatest 

 objection to it, however, is its disadvantages in 

 striking a trout ; a long line lies curved in the 

 water, and when the angler strikes, it is some time 

 before the flies move ; the line in fact requires to be 

 straightened first. When they do move, it is slowly 

 and without force, and there is little chance of hook- 

 ing the trout. It is very different with a short line ; 

 in this case the line is almost straight from the point 

 of the rod to the flies, and the least motion of the 

 hand moves the latter immediately. We advise the 

 angler who is using a long line, and raising but not 

 hooking a number of trout, to shorten his line, and 

 he will at once be struck with the difference. We 

 have invariably found that the nearer we are to our 

 flies the better we can use them, and the greater is 

 our chance of hooking a trout when it rises. 



The advantages of the second part of the maxim 

 to throw a light line it is impossible to over-estimate. 

 The moment the flies light being the only one in 

 which trout take the artificial fly for a live one is 

 the most deadly in the whole cast, and consequently 

 it is of immense importance to make the flies light in 



