THE AMERICAN TROUT. 19 



cles, figure eights, and all other figures, behind him, 

 according to the wind ; bearing in mind, however, ever 

 to make his fly drop as gently as a feather. He should 

 use his wrist mainly, and practise with each hand, and 

 should never be otherwise than ashamed of a bungling 

 cast, though he be alone, and none but the fish there to 

 despise him. If the line falls the first time with a heart- 

 rending splash all in a tangle, it is useless to make the 

 next cast properly. The fish have found out the trick, and 

 know too much to risk their necks in any such a noose. 



A skillful fisherman can cast almost any length of line, 

 but practically, fifty feet, counting from the reel, is all 

 that can be used to advantage. Some English books say 

 only the leader (gut links) should alight in the water ; but 

 this is nonsense, for at least one half the line must fall 

 into the water, unless the fisherman stand on a high 

 bank. With a long line the difiBculties of striking and 

 landing the fish are greatly increased ; in striking, there 

 is much slack line to be taken up ; in landing, it requires 

 some time to get the fish under control, and he is apt to 

 reach the weeds or a stump. 



That most excellent fisherman and learned scholar, Dr. 

 Bethune, in his edition of "Walton, Part II., page 73, 

 says that candid anglers must confess that nine out of ten 

 trout hook themselves ; this may be so in streams teeming 

 with fish, where a dozen start at once, frantically striving 

 to be the first ; but in clear, well-fished streams, not one 

 fish in a thousand will hook himself; and on Long Island 

 an angler would grow grey ere he filled his basket if he 

 did not strike, and that quickly. Striking, to my mind, 

 is by far the most important point, and hundreds of fish 



