SPRING. 33 



manner. That is best accomplished by coohiess ; and if, 

 coohiess or not, his faculties are not at this moment all 

 alive, and his pulses on the spring, true angler he is not. 



So ! The fly sped its distance, and alighted fairly well 

 across and below, and if the angler allows the eddy from 

 the jutting granite to take it in charge, it will be brought 

 into position without any manceuvring on his part. Swish ! 

 It was a goodly rise, but the eager fisherman was too 

 quick for the fish. To my thinking, that quiet intense 

 boil in the dark current is the moment in salmon angling. 

 There is a fervour in the mingling of hope, fear, and resolve 

 that may be felt but not described, and that is not likely 

 to recur during any of the subsequent stages of the contest. 

 In this instance the moment of fervour would be followed 

 by a temporary paroxysm of despair, to which the angler 

 should not give way. He should put down his rod, seat 

 himself on the rock, and smoke a cigarette. After all, it 

 may have been that the salmon was too quick, and not the 

 angler ; and the fish may rise again. 



The next attempt is successful, after two or three unheeded 

 casts, but the fish rose more quietly, the fly not being 

 so much under water, and though the rise was visible, the 

 salmon sucked in rather than snapped at the Blue Doctor. 

 Instead, therefore, of a boil, the fish went down with a 

 swirling splash, and relieved the angler of half the duty of 

 striking. Now for a brief space, to a great extent, leave 

 the salmon to his own devices, the line never slack, the rod 

 top well up and well curved, the winch free to respond to 

 any demand. Nothing better could have happened than 

 this. The fish has run at steady pace down stream. Next 

 it may sulk or leap, requiring the angler, in the latter 

 event, to lower his rod-point, and in the former to attach to 

 the line the little ring which opens for the purpose, and 



D 



