Casting the Minnow. 399 



the most essential, and, at the same time, the most difficult 

 feature, or portion, of the cast to explain, or acquire. 



The thumb must be thoroughly educated to control the 

 rendering of the line during the cast, and this can only 

 be accomplished by continual and patient practice, in train- 

 ing the thumb to apply just the requisite amount of uni- 

 form pressure, to prevent the overrunning of the line, or 

 back-lashing of the spool. 



The beginner should make up his mind, in the first place, 

 to keep his temper, and to exhibit no impatience at the 

 frequent slipping of his thumb, and the consequent snarl- 

 ing and tangling of his line. The more calmly and philo- 

 sophically he views these annoyances and perplexities, the 

 sooner will he overcome the difficulties and become au fait 

 in the management of the reel. The best instruction I 

 can give him is to make the pressure of the thumb gentle, 

 but firm and uniform, during the flight of the minnow, 

 and to stop the revolving spool the moment the bait alights 

 on the water by a stronger pressure. 



These directions are as brief, plain and explicit, as it is 

 possible to make them; they embody the main principles 

 involved, and the novice, by a careful and practical appli- 

 cation of them, can, by perseverance, soon become a good 

 caster of the live minnow. 



Should the angler be sitting in a boat, the directions 

 just given must be somewhat modified to meet that condi- 

 tion ; but they should be followed as closely as possible. 



Casting the frog overhead, with a very short rod, as men- 

 tioned in Chapter is, is now practiced to some extent, but 

 it does not appeal to the artistic angler, and requires no 

 special directions. 



