Photo by L. J. Tooley 



THE PROPER WAY TO HOLD THE ROD 



fishing, and entirely in tournament casting, 

 and is easily the most important; therefore 

 I shall describe it first. 



Swing the rod back over the right shoulder 

 until hand is just above shoulder and rod is 

 held in an easy position, the weight coming 

 about in line with the waist; then swing 

 smartly to the front, and as rod reaches a per- 

 pendicular position release the pressure of 

 thumb on reel (but do not remove the thumb 

 entirely from it), gradually increasing the 

 pressure as the weight nears the end of the 

 cast, continuing the swing w T ith rod until it is 

 in a horizontal position in front of the body. 



It is always best to cast at some object; 

 three pieces of white paper placed at twenty- 

 five, fifty and seventy-five feet do very nicely. 

 When the weight is just over the object ca t 

 at, press the thumb tightly on the spooled 

 line, thus stopping the weight, which should 

 drop very lightly upon the paper. Just as 

 the weight strikes the paper swing the tip 

 of the rod back. By so doing the weight is 

 started on the retrieve, just as it touches the 

 ground. 



In tournament casting for distance, I find 

 that I can put more power in the swing by 

 starting about five feet from the starting line 



and stepping up to the line slowly, swinging 

 the rod in perfect rythm with body. 



In the retrieve, grasp rod at the winding 

 grip with second and third fingers and little 

 finger of the left hand, leaving the thumb 

 and first finger free to guide the line on the 

 reel. Grasp the handle of the reel in the 

 right hand, place the butt of the rod against 

 the body and proceed to wind up the .line, 

 guiding it evenly with thumb and first finger 

 of left hand. 



When making the underhand cast, grasp 

 the rod as for the overhead; swing it back 

 so that the hand is behind the body, and just 

 below the waist line, with the weight clear- 

 ing the ground. Swing smartly up and to 

 the front, releasing pressure on reel as tip 

 of rod comes in line with body. Stop when 

 directly in front of the body and tip is about 

 level with the head and proceed to reel in 

 line as before. 



The "cross cast" is difficult to learn, but 

 is very useful at times, and for this reason 

 I will explain it : grasp the rod in the right 

 hand, as before; bring the arm across the 

 body until the right wrist rests in the angle 

 of the left elbow. With the rod held back 

 of the body and weight just off the ground, 



