CHAPTER VI 



STRIKING, PLAYING, AND LANDING 



" Not gladder Shobden's wealthy peer 

 Views his fat oxen and his deer, 

 Nor peeress, when her alms she gives, 

 Nor those her charity relieves — 

 Nor Gripus, as he scans his store, 

 And counts and counts it o'er and o'er. 

 Nor Stella, decked in nuptial pride 

 And just about to be a Bride — 

 Than I to feel, O bliss Divine ! 

 A Salmon floundering on my line." — Old Song. 



The advisability of striking a salmon at all is 

 largely a matter of the water in which he is 

 caught. When I first fished for salmon, after a 

 long apprenticeship at trout, I could not for a 

 couple of days resist the impulse to strike as soon 

 as the rise came. The water was heavy, as were 

 the fish, and the result was that I snapped off 

 three or four flies before I learned to command 

 myself. The great force of the current, added to 

 the weight and motion of the fish, not only made 

 the salmon certain to hook themselves without any 



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