Flt-Fishing. 367 



ward motions are made in the same length of time as the 

 backward movement, and without intermission. 



I will now try to explain these movements more ex- 

 plicitly, with the aid of the annexed cuts and diagrams. 



The prospective fly-fisher having his rod, reel and cast 

 in readiness, stands near the bank of the stream, with a 

 clear space of thirty or forty feet behind him. Having 

 the line about the length of his rod, to begin with, he 

 takes the hook of the tail-fly between his left thumb and 

 forefinger and stretches the line taut; then, by waving 

 the rod slightly backward over the left shoulder, and at 

 the same time releasing his hold of the tail-fly, the line 

 straightens out behind him, the right elbow meantime 

 being held close to the body, as the backward movement 

 is made with the wrist and forearm entirely. The position 

 of the right hand during this portion of the cast is with 

 said hand grasping the rod just above the reel, and with 

 the reel and palm of the hand toward the angler, the thumb 

 looking toward his right shoulder (see figure 1). 



When the line and leader are on a straight line behind 

 him, he brings the rod forward with a gradually increasing 

 rate of speed, until the rod is slightly in advance of him, 

 say at an angle of fifteen degrees ofl: the perpendicular; 

 then, for the first time, the right elbow leaves the body, 

 and, at the same time, the rod is turned in the hand in the 

 opposite direction (see figure 2) ; that is, with the back of 

 the hand toward the angler, so that, at the end of the cast, 

 the reel is below the rod, while the back of the hand is up- 

 ward, and, without stopping the motion of the rod, the 

 right arm is projected forward to its full extent, and on a 

 line with the shoulder (see figure 3). This is the second 

 jiart or motion of the forward movement, and consists in 

 merely following the direction of the flies with the tip of 



