CASTING THE ARTIFICIAL FLY 
Ihe Art of Fly Casting Is Easily Acquired by a Study 
of the Rules Laid Down by Experts —Second Paper 
By LOUIS RHEAD 
A FTER you attain a thorough 
mastery over the regular over¬ 
hand cast and gained a fairly 
good style, you are safe for ordinary 
fishing. But obstacles occur that re¬ 
quire entirely different methods and 
style of casting to overcome them. 
‘The “Switch,” or spray cast while 
entirely different to the steeple, is for 
the same purpose, particularly useful 
where, owing to trees or a high bank, 
the line cannot be extended at all be¬ 
hind the angler. The switch is a down¬ 
stream cast, and the rod-tip kept low 
pointing towards the fly which you al¬ 
low to drift some distance down¬ 
stream. Raise the tip smartly throw¬ 
ing the fly with a kind of roll, out¬ 
wards off the water; then depress it, 
and, in a sort of figure of eight, raise 
the fly and a portion of the line will 
come forward almost at our feet, then 
the rod is switched forward sharply to 
carry the line round in a curve, leaves 
the water and rolls out down-stream 
in front of us, suitable only for the 
wet-fly. 
The “dry-fly” angler can make the 
switch cast by turning his body down¬ 
stream, drying the fly in the air par¬ 
allel to the course of the river. If 
that be not possible, it may be done 
by shortening the line and drying in 
a vertical direction, keeping it in front 
of the rod-point. Then take the dry- 
fly between the fingers and thumb, 
make a false cast or two with the 
point of the rod, describing the figure 
of eight, still retaining the fly. As 
the rod is brought forward the hold 
of the fly is let go, and the fly travels 
out to the desired spot. 
The “horizontal” or underhand cast 
is of exceptional value against, or 
across a breeze, and most useful when 
fishing with the dry-fly. It is similar 
to overhand cast, the only difference 
being that in. lieu of the rod being 
kept for the most part upright, it is 
held in a horizontal position, or, in a 
line with the water. Pennell describes 
this cast as follows: “The line should 
THE SWITCH FIG. 1 
be returned under and delivered over 
the rod. There are many good rea¬ 
sons why this underhand cast should 
at all times be used by the dry-fly 
angler who desires to be successful. 
With it he can throw against a moder¬ 
ate wind, or across a strong one, and 
his fly will in the majority of cases 
land on the water properly cocked, 
or floating with its wings upright in 
the natural position; an important 
point when dealing with shy fish. Be¬ 
sides these advantages there is another 
of greater consequence, viz., that with 
the horizontal cast the angler himself 
will work more easily keeping quite 
low down, and, whether returning, 
casting or drying the fly, neither his 
rod or his shadow is ever nearly so 
visible to, and consequently likely to 
scare, the trout. It should also be 
noted that with this cast, a fly can 
easily be placed under overhanging 
boughs, or up under a bridge, where 
it would be impossible to do so by any 
other style of cast.” 
Accuracy of direction is more dif¬ 
ficult to attain in the underhand than 
any other style of cast. This is due 
to the rod-point, and consequently the 
fly, travelling in the arc of a circle 
across the point to which the fly i-s 
directed and not in a straight line 
down on it, as in the case of the over¬ 
hand cast. Mr. Fred. G. Shaw teaches 
this peculiar cast with great effective¬ 
ness. I have seen him work the fly 
around and under overhanging bushes 
to the water with much impediment in 
trees at his back. With a peculiai 
and remarkable twist of the rod and 
line, much too complicated to describe, 
the fly goes to the spot intended. 
Such a mastery over the line is only 
possible after much practice and vexa¬ 
tious tangles, and a knowledge of 
these helping styles in casting is very 
valuable. 
The “downward” cut is the last im¬ 
portant style of casting and to most 
anglers it is the most difficult to do. 
Page 298 
