SALMONS. ^S5 



as high as if they had to scale a cataract, close to 

 the boat. One which had jumped too far, was 

 caught on the rocks by two of my boys whom I 

 had left on the beach. . , For about an hour, I 

 should say that the spot in question was the finest 

 angling quarter I ever saw." * 



The author of " Wild Sports of the West" has 

 described in his lively manner Salmon-fishing in 

 Ireland. Fly-fishing commences in March, but 

 many are not caught in this way until the suc- 

 ceeding month. In June, net-fishing begins. The 

 weir is raised to stop the passage of the fish, the 

 water being allowed to find vent only through a 

 small aperture provided with a trap. 



The fishing is carried on only in the estuary 

 where the river meets the sea. The draughting 

 is confined to the last quarter of the ebb, and the 

 first of the flood ; five or six boats with as many 

 men in each are necessary. When the Salmon 

 are seen, the nearest boat starts off, leaving a man 

 on shore, with a rope attached to one extremity 

 of the net, which is rapidly thrown over, as the 

 boat makes an extensive circle round the place 

 where the fish are believed to lie. This curve is 

 gradually diminished; stones flung in on each side 

 prevent the fish from escaping ; at length the ex- 

 tremity of the net reaches the bank, the semicircle 

 is complete, and the inclosed fish secured. They 



* " It is supposed that the first taste of the admixture of fresh 

 water gives the fish a ravenous appetite for the fly, which occasions 

 their extraordinary jumping and easy capture. At the spot referred 

 to, the admixture of fresh water would hardly be perceptible to our 

 taste at half-tide, as the stream is inconsiderable, and the sea covers, 

 at that time of tide, many hundred acres. The fish certainly forbear 

 from their gambols at high and low water, and during the flow." Page 

 255. 



