Tackle 85 



fly he would not notice a moment before. I 

 should, as the result of my own practice in 

 salmon angling, place the size of the fly as the 

 most important element in its selection, as I 

 believe that very often, though not always, it is 

 the size that first appeals to the desires of the 

 salmon which, up to a certain point, it is our aim 

 to consider. Salmon will very frequently take 

 freely under similar conditions flies of one size 

 but of very different colors, but not often flies 

 of greatly varying sizes. Last summer I took 

 three fish from one pool, each hooking himself at 

 the first rise and having had no other fly over 

 him, on a Silver Doctor, a Durham Ranger, and 

 a Brown Fairy, all tied on No. 4 hooks. I tried 

 the experiment, as there was a number of fresh- 

 run fish in the pool, and I wanted to give the 

 question of size a fair trial with uniform condi- 

 tions, as nearly as could be obtained. 



I don't consider, however, that the result of 

 this experiment makes it at all certain that there 

 are not numerous occasions when a different 

 attitude on the part of the salmon might be 

 established. Indeed, I shall mention here- 

 after a notable instance or two wherein color 

 and not size was demanded. 



