DRY-FLY FISHING. 
13 
EXERCISE I. 
SCENE : A LA WN. HANDLING THE WHIP. 
Get a light ten-foot rod (not a .choice one that you 
care much about) with a rough and preferably heavy 
reel line', but do not yet attach to it any gut cast. 
Let out about a rod’s length of it, and practice on a 
lawn, striking the air about with it in any direction, 
so as to get used to wielding it firmly. 
Grasp your rod firmly a little above the reel, keep- 
ing your bent fingers down, with your thumb upwards, 
but not touching the line.' 
Keep your arm pretty close to your side so as to 
use the muscles of the forearm and wrist and not 
those of your shoulder. 
Do not raise your arm above your head. Practise 
in this way for half an hour for two or three days 
until you can feel that you can use the rod with per- 
fect freedom and force. Strike at the air, not at the 
grass, and get the power of cutting it with your line 
as with a sword. 
A chief factor in success is a perfectly free and 
masterful handling of the rod. If you notice a 
beginner at fly-fishing of any kind, you will see that 
