JANUAEY, 1919 
FOREST AND S T R E A :\1 
23 
bit to the one unfortunate rift in the 
big family of sportsmen and gentlemen 
who compose the trout fishing company 
of the world. Have your discussions 
and wax warm in the defense of your 
theories, but always remember that all 
the methods are good and all are right. 
You may most enjoy wet-fiy fishing and 
I dry-fiy fishing, and we each have a 
sneaking feeling that our own method is 
really the only best way, but as we both 
fish both ways successfully let us not 
become enemies over the matter. 
room for a back cast quite as long as 
you wish, shooting the line helps to over- 
come this. I believe also that it is much 
easier to cast a light fiy in this way; 
your fly cannot slap down on the water 
if you shoot your line. This may not 
be the “cure-all” that I consider it, but 
I assure you it is worth looking into. 
Another thing that is not mentioned 
in the books is what I call “feeling your 
line” on the back cast. By this I mean 
that just before your line straightens 
out behind you, if you move your rod 
for a minute and then, rushing on, cast 
there a few times, as if they were afraid 
that some one might catch up with them, 
and cast a fly in some water ahead of 
them. The consequence is that neither 
they nor any one else gets any fish. 
Still another very unfortunate thing 
to do is to stop near the stream in a 
place where a man is casting, in such 
a position that the fish may see one; 
this is often done by some admiring 
person who would not be rude intention- 
ally for anything in the world ; however. 
In midwinter the angler dreams of the many different ways of fishing that eddy just above the big round rock 
A S to learning how to cast — well, I 
tried to learn from books, and 
spent a whole winter practising 
faithfully; my results were very indif- 
ferent. One day I went fishing with an 
expert, and I learned more in the first 
ten minutes of watching him than I had 
learned out of a half a dozen books. 
However, what I learned from the books 
became more and more useful as I 
watched my expert friend. I could tell 
you what motions to make in order to 
cast, but I could not make you feel that 
indescribable rhythm — if that is the 
word — that makes you put the life into 
your rod at just the right instant so 
that the line will fly out easily, and carry 
the extra five feet you hold in your left 
hand through the guides, allowing the 
fly to drop lightly on the water. Why 
is it that the authorities do not lay more 
emphasis on “shooting the line”? This 
means that you hold a loop of the line 
in your left hand (if you cast with your 
right) and just as the line straightens 
out in the air in front of you, release 
the line in your left hand, allowing 
the weight of the rest of the line to 
carry it out through the guides. It is 
surprising how much line can be shot 
out this way; and where there is not 
tip just a little bit forward you will 
feel the line pull on it; that is the in- 
stant when the forward cast should be- 
gin. A good caster does this without 
realizing it, as you will notice if you 
watch him carefully. The forward move- 
ment of your tip should be barely per- 
ceptible, and should not take place until 
you think the line is almost entirely 
straightened out behind you. 
J UST a word in conclusion about the 
etiquette of the trout stream. If you 
think it is wise to be polite and gen- 
tlemanly in the drawing room, let me 
assure you it is doubly desirable to be 
scrupulously so on the trout stream. I 
have seen the most shocking behavior 
when fishing on certain streams and the 
most delightful good manners on other 
streams, and the day’s pleasure is very 
closely connected with this matter. For 
instance, on one stream I know of it is 
a very common occurrence for one to 
be quietly casting over a pool, when sud- 
denly some unseen hand will swing a 
baited hook out into the water just where 
one is fishing; a man that perpetrates 
an action of that kind is no better than 
a swine. Other people will go crashing 
along the bank of a stream casting here 
to the man who is trying to catch the 
fish, this is very annoying. Always be 
thoughtful of the other angler. 
If you know some stream well from 
having fished it many times, and meet 
some stranger on it, tell him what flies 
are considered most taking, and either 
show him or direct him to the best pools 
and riffles on the stream. If he has not 
the proper flies, and you have several 
of them, you may rest assured that it 
will pay you to give him one, or even 
more, if you can. I have been the re- 
cipient of such favors on a trout stream, 
and I have also done like favors for 
others. The best place to learn trout 
fishing is on the stream with a brother 
angler, and if you are generous and 
polite your opportunities for learning 
will be many. 
Try to remember that there are plenty 
of trout in the world for all of us, and 
when you have helped the other man 
catch his, you will enjoy catching yours 
all the more. Let us all try to make 
our streams pleasanter places, and make 
trout fishing the most gentlemanly and 
sportsmanlike pastime, by being true dis- 
ciples of Izaak Walton — the most per- 
fect angler of all time — and helping to 
make others so by our good examples. 
