20 
A HANDY GUIDE TO 
EXERCISE V. 
SCENE : A POND. TAKING AIM. 
When you can accomplish these exercises satisfac- 
torily without flicking your fly off, you may go to 
some stream or pond and practice upon it. 
In some respects this will be easier than on land, 
because the constant wetting of your line and gut 
will facilitate casting. 
But do not practise on a water which you wish to 
fish or which your friends fish, for your ’prentice 
flogging will only scare the fish, and make them 
more difficult to catch hereafter. Do not be selfish 
even in such matters. An angler ought to be a 
noble man if he be not a nobleman ; and “ Noblesse 
oblige ” (which maybe freely and properly anglicised, 
“ Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, 
even so do unto them ”) should be the angler’s 
motto. Lovers of the gentle art should be gentle- 
men. 
Well, then, do not choose a good river for such 
practice, but choose some pond or canal. 
Now your aim must be at some imaginary rise at 
