142 The Atlantic Salmon 



twenty-five and a half pounds. The first rise 

 of all was on a Butcher. After the third rise the 

 fly was changed to a Silver Gray, after the fifth 

 back to the original Butcher. 



Fish which are pricked will not generally rise 

 for some time after, but this rule also has excep- 

 tions. I once hooked a salmon which escaped 

 by the loop of the fly coming away, and while 

 fishing down the same pool half an hour after, I 

 saw a fish jump about where I hooked this one. 

 Returning to the spot, a salmon took the fly, and 

 on landing him I found my Silver Doctor, minus 

 its loop, firmly stuck in his jaw. 



I have amongst my angling memorabilia three 

 flies found in the mouth of salmon I have killed. 

 Two of these are attached to casting lines about 

 six feet long, and one has, besides a three-yard cast, 

 half that length of line to which it is fastened. 



It seems strange that a salmon should be 

 inclined to rise after having been gaffed the day 

 before, as I have mentioned, or even with a hook 

 in his jaw, and trailing ten or fifteen feet of line 

 after him. Fish wounded by the nets through 

 which they have lately passed are known to be 

 more likely to take the fly than their unscathed 

 companions, and the same is true of those which 



