The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1917-04-09
ON LEARNING FLY-cAsTiNG.

with artificial plugs to fy-casting wit |
the light, feathery imitation that coaxe5 |
the gamy fighters out of the waters |
but you can make it easy enough, oil |
man, by doing a stretch of dry W. |
ter practice work on the back lawn
To the ordinary bait-caster who has
accustomed himself to the sitter
short rod, fy-casting with the nine Q,
ten foot rod weighing from five to ST
and q quarter ounces seems like the
impossible. Many are the yarns h.
has heard about the fine art of fish
ing" fly-casting; much has been writ
ten about the science" of this end o.
the game, in fact, the average every
now-and-then. week end fisherman VIII
has become proficient in bait-castinz
has been scared to a fare-you-Wel1
the thought of learning to toss tn
light flies and he has stuck to bait
casting as the "aafety-irst" of fishing
thereby missing many pleasant hour
whipping streams.
Practice Makes a Fly-Caster.
Right down to rocks, Buck, yoH
can learn fiy-casting by a little praC
tice with the right tackle-of course
you must not get the bug in your
tackle-box that this practice make
YOU an expert fiy-fsherman, but i
gives you q start at an angle of the
game to which you will become &
regular member as soon as you have
whipped stream or two. You cal
/ learn the action of fy-casting quite
easily. practice viii make you in
short time a good fy-caster, but there
is nothing whatever TO make you
bring home well filled creel, except
I the study Of fish, the streams you fist
and the exercising Of care and alert
/ ness Of mind while after the game fish
/ that rise to the fly.
+ You can whip 4 stream all day with
( any variety o. selection of flies with
( out erecting fish if you don't know
J tho habits and loaing places Of the
1 fish and how to cast without gearing
/ them to death.
Tackle Necessary to Start.
( Probably the pest all round fly rod
1 for all except the smallest of noun
tain brooks, is split bamboo from
nine to ten feet, weighing from five
to six ounces, my preference is the
nine and half footer for general cast
ing, with 25 yards OF waterproof enam-
eled silk line, size e or +, according
TO the weight Of the rod, Z for the
| heavier and + for the lighter one. An
ordinary single action click reel of TO-
Yards capacity is necessary. Don't
bother with leader for the lawn
although you can tie very small
piece OF white string on the end Of
the line to locate the end easily tc
note the distance from your target.
Trying Out the Cast.
Peg down newspaper or small
cloth on the lawn. take position fac
ing it, say - feet away, place the rec
on the underside of the rod with The
handle to the right and keep it there
at all times. Grasp the rod in tht
right hand, reel under. with the thumb
straight along the top of the grip
never curved around the grip. Cas-
out about ten feet of line letting j
iall in front of you on line with thu
target, with the left hand unreel abou
fifteen feet Of line-but do not pass TIL:
line through the guides and out til,
tip, but let it drop to the ground Q
your feet, retaining hold on the lin
about a foot this side of the frs
guide Point your rod at the target
keeping your arm IS far as the elboy
close to the body (this IS essential
the forearm and wrist must do tn
work. swing the rod up TO yertica
position slowly at first, taking u
loose line and ending with a strong
quick wrist and forearm motion. Thi
throws the line in the air and tn
swing of the rod carries it back owe
the shoulder. but be sure of thi
point, stop the cast when the thum
along the grip shows that the rod j
vertical; more casts are killed by to
much Of a swing over the shoulde
than any other way. This is the frs
Ealf OF the cast and is called the bac
cast. This cast causes the line to fl
out behind you and the instant yo
feel the slightest tug on the rod 70
Inow that the line has straightene
olit behind and at this point start tn
forward cast. Make the forward ca:
!. beginning It with an easy swing pu
II ing tho steam or at the windup, ato
II ping the cast with snap when pa
$ ailcl with the ground
e Big Points TO Remember.
The main points to watch are: Nal
the hack cast forcibly. Not to swim
! the rod back too far on the back cas-
Il keeping it at vertical rather than bae
4, farther-start forward cast at IL
il slightest pull of the line-start fo
ID ward cast mildly, finish it strong, ar
not TO lower the rod too near the W
ter at the wind UP.
D. DIXIE.
n Ground floor Investments cf+o, 10