Fly-Fishing. 365 



causing the flies to alight before the line, without a splash, 

 and as lightly as the natural insect dropping into the water. 

 This can only be done by the novice with a short line, 

 about the length of his rod, and he should not attempt ii 

 longer cast until he is perfect in this. When he can lay 

 out his short line perfectly straight before him without a 

 splash, every time, he can then venture further. 



To be more explicit : the reel should be underneath, with 

 the handle to the right. The rod is grasped just above the 

 reel with the thumb extended. Keeping the arm close to 

 the body, for the wrist and forearm must do the work, 

 throw the line backward and upward over the right 

 shoulder, and then straight forward, aiming at a point 

 on the water distant about the length of the line. Bat 

 little force or muscular effort should be used, as the spring 

 of the rod will be sufficient. This should be repeated a 

 number of times in quick succession, in the meanwhile 

 trying to ascertain exactly when the line is straight be- 

 hind, before making the forward cast. At no time should 

 the rod extend forward or backward at a greater angle 

 than twenty or twenty-five degrees from the perpendicular, 

 and even a lesser angle would be better. (See figures 1 

 and 3.) This style of casting is the one practiced by most 

 anglers with any length of line, in actual fishing. 



For very long casts, however, and in tournament work, 

 a somewhat different style is used'; but it should be borne in 

 mind that nearly every angler has a method of casting 

 peculiarly his own. 



The backward and forward movements are each made 

 in about the same length of time, but while the former is 

 a single movement, the latter is a double one; that is, it is 

 divided into two motions, or parts; though these two for- 



