AN angler's notes ON THE BEAVERKILL 



count two and three for the back cast and four for the 

 cast. Use your wrist chiefly and don't be afraid of 

 your rod. Take hold of it as though you could whip 

 a horse with it, give it life, put force into your cast; so 

 long as your wrist makes the cast the rod will not be 

 injured. Remember to take time between the back 

 cast and the cast ; there must be an interval, otherwise 

 your flies will not lengthen out behind or above. 

 When you make the cast send the flies out, not down ; 

 cast as though you intended to make the end fly strike 

 some imaginary object three feet above the water. 

 The philosophy of the science is simply to make the 

 rod bend — that's all ; if the rod bends to and fro the 

 line will follow. Try your rod before you run out the 

 line and see how the snap of your wrist does the work. 

 Switch it back, pause a moment, then switch it for- 

 ward. Use your wrist all you can ; your arm simply 

 follows in obedience to the movement of your wrist. 

 Keep your rod perpendicular whenever possible ; in the 

 back cast the rod should be a trifle to the right, but 

 the forward cast is from the perpendicular. Put your 

 thumb up the rod and directly back of it ; this will 

 prevent the sweep from going too far back ; in the cast 

 the thumb is still at an angle, never lengthened out. 

 The tip of the rod covers about one-half of a semi- 

 circle. Look at your watch; let the hours 9 to 3 

 represent the semicircle ; the tip of your rod covers that 

 part of the semicircle represented by 1 1 and 2. Be 

 careful to get all your line and leader out straight and 

 "5 



