104 SCIENCE OF FISHING. 



To the end of the line the gut leader is attached. 

 It may be three feet long, with a single fly on the end 

 (called a tail fly when used on end of leader) ; or it may 

 be six feet long with a fly on the end and another (dropper 

 fly) attached to the middle; or it may be nine feet long, 

 with three flies, but this latter length is not used much for 

 the ordinary fly fishing, as the knot catches in the tip when 

 casting. 



This is the outfit used for this, the fine art of fishing, 

 and the modus operandi is as follows: 



Grasping the rod in the right hand, reel down, and 

 thumb extended on top of the grip, draw from the reel 

 about twelve or fifteen feet of line, letting the slack fall 

 to the ground at your feet, but holding onto the line with 

 your left hand. Now point the rod out towards the place 

 you want to cast to, say twenty-five or thirty feet away, 

 and keeping the elbow close to the side, throw the tip of 

 the rod upward to a vertical position, or perhaps back over 

 the shoulder slightly, making this movement very quickly. 

 If properly done the line shoots high up into the air and 

 then stretches out behind, and just when it is fully stretched, 

 make the forward cast, an easy, downward sweep of the 

 rod, stopping it when it points out towards, but several 

 yards above, the spot you want to cast to. As the line 

 stretches out ahead of you at the end of this forward cast, 

 release the line you have been holding and the momentum 

 of the free line draws out the slack line that has been drawn 

 from the reel. 



To make the fly fall lightly on the water, and fall 

 before the line does, elevate the tip of the rod gently just 

 before the fly touches the water, also, to keep the fly from 

 striking with a "spat," cast at a spot about a yard above 

 the water. 



The most difficult thing for the amateur to learn is 

 just how long to pause after the back-cast before making 



