FLY CASTING. 105 



the forward cast. This pause must be just long enough to 

 let the line straighten out and pull gently on the rod tip. 

 If you pause too long the line drops and strikes the ground 

 or water, and if you make the forward cast before the line 

 has straightened out you will snap the flies off the snell. An 

 expert can feel the pull of the line on the rod tip, as the 

 line straightens out behind, and the amateur can soon learn 

 to wait for this. If you hear a sharp little snap behind 

 you, you are not pausing long enough you have made the 

 forward cast before the line has straightened out. 



Avoid throwing the rod too far past the perpendicular 

 as you can never become a good caster as long as you do 

 that. The rod should be carried little if any beyond the 

 vertical line and the bend of the rod will usually be enough 

 to give it some angle beyond. When your thumb on the 

 grip points upward, stop. Also avoid a sudden stop at the 

 termination of the forward cast, as it causes a double move- 

 ment in the rod tip which spoils the cast, and do not re- 

 lease the line too quickly; it is better to wait until you 

 feel a light pull, then release it. 



But thirty feet is not a long cast and you may wonder 

 how you are to reach more distant spots that you always 

 thought could be reached by casting. To do so you simply 

 make a second, a third, or even a fourth cast. With the 

 length of your first cast out you draw a few yards more line 

 from the reel and make another cast. It is made in the 

 same manner as the first, except that with the longer line 

 you must pause longer before making the forward cast. 

 In fishing with an artificial bait we cast the longest distance 

 possible and then reel in the bait. In fly fishing we fish 

 the nearer water first and gradually lengthen the cast and 

 reach other water, but even if you do not want to fish the 

 nearer water, you must reach the extreme distance by a 

 number of casts as described. 



The beginner should learn first to cast accurately, and 



