368 SALMON AND TROUT.. 



The line should be returned under and delivered over the rod. 

 To give a fair indication of the difference of position of the 

 angler, his rod and line, the accompanying plate (page 367), 

 shows in outline their relative positions, one in the overhanded 

 and the other in the underhanded cast.^ 



There are many good reasons why the underhanded cast 

 should at all times, where practicable, be used by the angler 

 who desires to be successful. With it he can throw against a 

 moderate wind or across a strong one, and his fly will in the 

 majority of cases land on the water cocked, or floating with its 

 wings up in the natural position. This last is a very essential 

 and important point when dealing with shy fish, and with no 

 fly and in no style of angling to so great a degree as with the 

 May-fly. Besides these advantages, there is another which, if 

 possible, is even of greater consequence than either, viz., that 

 with the horizontal cast the fisherman himself will work more 

 easily keeping quite low down, and, whether returning, casting, 

 or drying the fly, neither his rod nor its shadow is ever nearly 

 so visible to, and consequently likely to scare, the fish. 



There are only two difficulties to overcome when commenc- 

 ing to learn the underhanded cast. The first is to get over the 

 cramp caused by the alteration in position of the hand and the 

 strain on a set of muscles which are scarcely used at all with 

 the overhanded cast. The second, that from the fact of the 

 rod-point, and therefore the fly, travelling along the arc of a 

 circle of which the hand is the centre, and the plane of which 

 is parallel to the plane of the water, it is far more difficult to 

 place the fly accurately over the rising fish than with the ordi- 

 nary overhanded cast, when it is directed in a straight line 

 down on to it. Both of these difficulties are, however, over- 

 come by practice and perseverance, and having once mastered 

 this cast, the angler will never fail to use it in preference to any 



' By the courteous permission of Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & 

 Rivington (Limited), these sketches are taken from the same instantaneous 

 photographs as served to illustrate Mr. Halford's book, Dry-Fly Fishing in 

 Theory and Practice, 



