14 
A HANDY GUIDE TO 
he tries to lift his fly and line from the ground with 
his arm up, and holding his rod stiffly as if it were 
a long pole. But in the hands of a master the 
rod is a flexible power like that of a good four-horse 
coachman’s whip in the hands of an accomplished 
Jehu. Indeed, a good whip is certain to make a 
good fly-fisher. The late Tom Bosworth to wit. 
He was such a crack whip that with his four-horse 
flogger he could pick a pipe out of a man’s mouth ; 
and, when he took to dry-fly fishing, few could drive 
such a long, accurate, and graceful cast. If you 
look at a bad coachman (you will see plenty in 
Rotten Row) you will see that he always weakly 
flicks the thong ; whereas the good one does every- 
thing powerfully, and at the same time easily and 
gracefully by means of the whip-stick. It is not 
something held in his hand and by his arm : it is 
rather a part of his hand and an elongation of his 
arm, so thoroughly is it one with them. 
The former will have his eye on the thong and 
make an awkward dive at the middle of it to catch 
it ; or will drop his stick (looking at it) towards the 
ground and try to twirl the thong round it, while the 
latter will have his eye on his horses and the road 
and not look at his whip at all. So a good dry-flyer 
will have his eye on the river and the rise and take 
not so much as a glance at either rod or line. His 
practised hand will see these without his eye. 
