NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLY-FISHING. 461 



force, when, still accelerating the speed, the angler delivers 

 his fly at the spot upon which he wishes it to alight. This 

 throwing from the left shoulder is chiefly useful where 

 there are low bushes, or other impediments near the 

 ground behind the angler, under which circumstances the 

 fly must be kept aloft ; but sometimes the reverse is the 

 case, and with impending trees and a bare background, the 

 right shoulder or back-casting will avail much better than 

 the rival mode above alluded to ; but it is not so manage- 

 able with the two-handed rod as with the light single- 

 handed trout-rod, which may be used wit^i as much cer- 

 tainty and facility as the four-in-hand whip. Mr. Stoddart 

 lays it down as a rule that no man can manage properly, 

 without the aid of the wind, a line more than four times 

 the length of his rod, measuring from the fly to its point, 

 and not including that part within the rings. This is 

 certainly much within what is generally considered the 

 extreme length of the salmon-line, and many professed 

 fishers maintain that they can throw nearly twice as far as 

 that length will command. But there is a vast difference 

 between simply throwing a fly, and throwing it cleverly 

 and effectually ; still I cannot help thinking that Mr. 

 Stoddart has a little underrated the power of the salmon- 

 rod and line in good hands, when he limits the range to 

 35 yards from the spot where the angler stands. This I 

 should say is about the average length of good fly-fishers, 

 but I should think that some few tall and muscular men, 

 who are also adepts, can command nearly 10 yards more, 

 when the air is perfectly still, and the situation is favorable 

 to the display of their power and skill. Much must 



