Salmon-fishing Casting the Fly. 123 



water, the rod is thrown into an almost but not quite 

 horizontal position, the butt pointing to the front and in 

 the direction in which the cast is to be delivered, while 

 the tip of the rod projects to the rear. We have thus 

 dr;i\vn the line and fly over the water toward us, and 

 have the tip of the rod and about the length of the rod 

 of line behind us. So far we have copied the motions of 

 the boy endeavoring to cast his apple from his switch to 

 the greatest possible distance. To so project the apple, it 

 must not be discharged horizontally, but well toward the 

 sky. We continue to follow his example. 



We switch the rod upward with some force. Though 

 careful to see that the impetus ceases before the rod is 

 quite perpendicular, we nevertheless continue the motion 

 and ease the rod down until it is nearly horizontal, with 

 the tip pointing to the front and toward the place at 

 which we wish the fly to be delivered. Perhaps the 

 following diagram will make this plainer, in which 



A JB represents the rod before the switch; 



A C, its position when the impetus is to cease; 



A E, its position when the cast ends; and D the place 

 at which we aim. The arrow points at the salmon for 

 whose entertainment the cast is made. 



By thus acting as though we were trying to hit the 

 moon, that portion of the line which was behind us is 

 thrown into a loop; and, if the impetus ceases at the 

 proper moment, this loop travels down the line, lifting 

 the fly from the water and projecting it forward. The 

 loop must be directed to one side of the line which re- 

 mains on the water, and the leeward side must be chosen 

 if the wind is not dead fair with the cast. Otherwise 

 the sides of the loop will be blown against one another, 



