ii6 The Atlantic Salmon 



away from a fish that has not yet taken it but is 

 about to do so. Even when it is certain a salmon 

 has missed a fly, he will frequently turn and take 

 it if it is left where it was. Some advise casting 

 at once in the same spot before the salmon has 

 time to settle, but leaving the fly is better. 



While most would say that the rise followed 

 by the first rush of a salmon after the instant of 

 suspense, yields the supreme delight of angling, 

 the ensuing moments of contest, full of anxiety as 

 they are, may furnish the most enduring recollec- 

 tions. One of the maxims of salmon angling 

 is, when your fish is hooked, to get him ashore 

 as soon as possible, regarding of course the safety 

 of your tackle. If a salmon is lightly hooked, he 

 will escape anyway, and it is better for him, and 

 for the angler, that he should do so soon than 

 after a half-hour of ladylike dallying with him. 

 After a salmon is hooked it is wise to reverse 

 the rule of doing all you can to please him, and 

 instead, to assume an attitude of determined op- 

 position to every move he may make. Wherever 

 it is possible the angler should try to get below 

 his fish as soon as it can be done after he is 

 hooked. The tendency of the salmon is to keep 

 his head up-stream, and he is fighting the rod and 



