LOOSE STRANDS 197 



joint will be found quite powerful enough to serve his 

 purpose. It has been said that the movement described 

 in striking- should be that made in turning the key in a 

 lock. The method is worse than useless. Since the 

 effect of simply turning the hand as in the action men- 

 tioned is to depress the point of the rod, it thwarts 

 rather than assists the angler in the execution of his 

 design. 



Whether the angler strikes from the reel or not is a 

 detail determined by circumstances. If his line run 

 very smoothly, or he be the enviable possessor of a 

 calm and even temperament, he may safely keep a 

 finger on the line. Should he, however, lack self- 

 control, and in moments of excitement tend to lose 

 his head, he will be wise to leave the line alone and 

 employ a reel so stiff that it provides him with the 

 necessary check. 



The act of striking is instinctive. The natural im- 

 pulse of the beginner is to throw up the point of his 

 rod at sight of a rise, and the action is always much too 

 energetic ; he strikes from the shoulder, and the result 

 is generally a catastrophe. If the fish is small, it is 

 sent hurtlino- througrh the air to fall somewhere in the 

 dim distance far beyond his ken ; if it is large, he 

 smashes the top-joint of his rod, or the cast snaps and 



