6o THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



places, however, where the left-handed horizontal 

 cast will not deliver a fly properly to a rising fish. 

 These places will be referred to in the chapter on 

 " Drag." In such a place the angler (I am supposing 

 him to be right-handed) must fish back-handed. No 

 doubt, most readers will understand this term, espe- 

 cially the lawn-tennis players. 



When one is fishing back-handed with the right 

 hand, it is carried back in the return until it is against 

 the upper part of the left arm, and the position of the 

 hand is shown in Plate VHI. Throughout the return 

 and cast the hand is kept with the side on which the 

 little finger is placed, directed towards the point where 

 the fly is to be cast. It is a most useful variety of the 

 horizontal cast and well worth the trouble of learning 

 thoroughly. 



To make a very short cast is often difficult, and 



the reason is, as usual, that one 

 Fine and far off. works too quickly and puts too 



much power into the action. 

 The old school of fly-fishermen always preached the 

 text " fine and far off." I venture to differ with them 

 as far as dry-fly is concerned. The finest of drawn 

 gut is unnecessary ; in fact, any drawn gut is to my 

 mind a disadvantage. Every man can find out for 

 himself the distance at which he fishes best, and 

 wherever practicable, should place himself in such a 

 position that this length of line should be used. It 

 certainly will not in any case be what the modern 

 school of dry-fly men would call far off. 



