426 
F O K K S T 
A X I) S T K E A :\I 
August, 191£ 
THE ARM OF 
THE MARKSMAN 
B. S. A. Rifles are 
now resuming their 
place in forest and 
held, at targets and 
traps. They are being 
made, as before the 
war, in all styles for all 
these purposes. 
THE 
BIRMINGHAM 
SMALL ARMS 
COMPANY 
LIMITED 
Dept, 20 
Birmingham 
I England 
Prominent among 
them is the B. S. A. .22 
calibre Bolt Action 
Rifle for sporting and 
target use — single shot 
or magazine. The war 
and the e.xperience of 
sportsmen have made 
perfeeth' clear the ad- 
vantages of Bolt Ac- 
tion. It is unusual to 
And a .22 calibre rifle 
that embodies them as 
docs_ the B. S. A. 
B. S. A. Rifles equippeil 
with the famous B. S. A. 
sights, with a “hang” that 
is just right and stocks that 
snugly fit the face and 
shoulder, are the choice of 
sportsmen everywhere. Let 
the B. S. A, be your choice 
as well. 
A\ e also manufacture B. S. 
A. rifles of larger bore for 
long range target and big 
game shooting, both single 
shot and magazine: B. S. A. 
shot guns, B. S. A, lever 
cocked air rifles for serious 
target and sporting work, 
gun accessories and B. S. A. 
sights. 
Write for further informa- 
tion, and B.S.A. rifle book- 
lets. Sent free on request. 
FOREST AND STREAM PUBLISHES MANY AND 
CAN SUPPLY ANY OF THE WORLD’S BEST 
OUTDOOR BOOKS. 
‘‘Modern RifL” 
or any dollar book shown on pages 
388-3S9 free with a year’s subscrip- 
tion to Forest .vnd Stke.vm at the 
regular yearly rate of Sz.oo. 
FOREST AND STREAM 
(BOOK DEPARTMENT! 
9 East 40th Street, New York, N. Y. 
HOW TO IMPROVE IN BAIT CASTING 
(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 401) 
is one of three things that will happen. 
Your weight went out onto the grass in 
the direction of the target just as you 
intended it should. If not, it either shot 
up into the air over your head or else 
it plugged into the ground at your feet. 
If it went out towards the target, your 
cast was correctly made. If it went up 
into the air, you released your thumb 
pressure too soon. If it shot down to 
the ground directly in front of you, you 
did not release the thumb soon enough. 
There you are. With that information, 
you should be able to make good head- 
way. 
After you get so that you can land the 
weight out in the grass in some direc- 
tion, which very likely will not be very 
near the target, then you will be ready 
to try for accuracy. You have got to 
acquire accuracy, for a caster without it, 
is not a caster. No, he is a dangerous 
customer to get close to when he is in 
action. 
When you swing your rod forward in 
the cast, swing it as you would a twenty- 
foot pole and were going to “swat” a 
woodchuck or skunk with it. In this in- 
stance, the hat on the grass is to be 
the victim. What I wish you to under- 
stand is that you must bring your rod 
forward in a direct line with whatever 
you are casting at. This movement will 
send the weight out towards the target. 
If the weight is going too hard and too 
high it will fly completely over and be- 
yond the target. If this is the case, 
thumb pressure is to be applied to the 
spool and the weight will slow down and 
settle. A little practice and a good deal 
of judgment will soon enable you to drop 
your weight about where you want it. 
After you have managed to acquire a 
bit of proficiency, then, as your weight 
shoots out, keep your rod pointed di- 
rectly at it. As the weight settles, lower 
the rod tip. This movement permits the 
line to draw in a direct line from the 
reel spool with a minimum of friction. 
Thus you are enabled to cast with little 
effort and at the same time your line 
will last longer. 
Now you are ready for a word or 
two about retrieving your lure. As soon 
as the bait has landed on the ground, 
transfer the rod to your left hand. 
Grasp the rod by the grip that is above 
the reel seat, having the hand under- 
neath with the thumb up on the left side 
and the index finger up on the right side. 
Pi’ess the rod butt against the stomach 
and reel in the line, guiding it onto the 
spool as evenly as possible with the 
thumb and index finger of the left hand. 
Be sure to spool the line evenly with a 
regular traverse across the entire width 
of the reel spool, not allowing the line 
to pile up in a ridge at any place or 
nermitting^it to run up the ends of the 
sprcl. The success of every cast lies 
main..' in the manner in which the line 
was wound onto the spool after the pre- 
vious cast. 
While you are getting familiar with 
this part of the art, keep your eyes on 
your reel so you can see what you are 
doing. Later in the game you will forget 
all about spooling your line, for it wil 
be done without any special thought or 
your part. 
A 3 you begin to become proficient ii 
casting and retrieving, then worl 
your rod butt away from your stom 
ach, for besides not being a gracefu 
position, it is unhandy when you strife 
a fish. The style to adopt is to hok 
the rod with the click end of reel in th( 
left palm. All fingers underneath thi 
rod. Guide the line onto the spool witl 
the tip of the thumb which will extern 
over the top of the reel when held ai 
described. Press the line first with om 
side of the thumb and then with tfe 
other. This position gets the rod wel 
away from the body and permits free 
dom for a good strike to set the hool 
when a bass takes hold. And set tb 
hook good and solid when you do get t 
strike. It is a mighty good start to 
wards getting the fish onto your stringer 
A fish with the hook set deeply doesn’ 
unhook himself even if you let him rui 
around loose for ten minutes. “Spittinj 
out” the hook never happens if the barl 
is well in. 
If you will now follow the instruction 
I have given, you should soon be abl 
to cast very well without any persona 
supervision from a caslser. Above al 
things, stick to the overhead cast sucl 
as I have described. Don’t take up tha 
inefficient underhand cast to start witl 
or you will keep it up and never amoun 
to a “hill of beans” as a bait caster 
Remember this, if you happen to be fish 
ing and meet a caster who employs thi 
underhand cast only, you just make u] 
your mind that you will have him nicel; 
trimmed before the day is over. Th( 
overhead caster puts his bait just w'hen 
he wishes it to go, while the averag( 
underhand caster puts his lure just abou 
where it happens to land. This is no 
true in every instance, but it holds gooc 
in the majority of cases. 
Well, the time soon arrives when ym 
are in shape to try your hand after fish 
I suppose I might tell you what to do 
where to cast, wTere to go, and a whoh 
lot of other things, but I’m not goinj 
to do it in that way. I’m going to tafe 
you fishing with Jimmie and me. Jim 
mie, by the way, is my wife. And bes 
of all, the fishing trip that I am goin) 
to take you on is not ancient historj 
It is a trip that I took since I bega! 
to write this article. If you will loo' 
back to where I wrote: “A little prac 
tree and a good deal of adjustment wi’ 
soon enable you to drop your weigh 
where you want it,” you will see jus 
where I quit writing for the time bein 
and put my tackle aboard my little re 
runabout which already had Jimmi 
seated therein, and sped away fror 
Jewett City, Conn., to Pachaug Pom 
about three miles away. 
Pachaug Pond, which in reality is 
small lake, contains a lot of water whe 
full. In fact, it covers about 1,000 acre: 1 
but along in Augrust our mill has draw ( 
heavily on the supply and about 40 , 
acres would be about the size then. 1 1 
