ON ANGLING. 137 



went round, and then, on the drawing-in process beginning, 

 seeming as if he could endure the uncertainty no longer, 

 that he must " have a go " at this tantalising thing which 

 seemed about to go up-stream away from him, and " have a 

 go " accordingly he did. After which, of course, the band, 

 led by the screeching of the reel, began to play. 



I tell you this, not so much to excite your enthusiasm, 

 which is not likely to be in any need of such incitement, but 

 so that you may avoid the error which I am sure is often made 

 in pulling out the fly too soon and too fast for the next cast, 

 and before its chance of catching a fish on that present cast 

 is nearly exhausted. There is another hint, nearly allied, 

 which I think you may find useful also. I see many a young 

 salmon-fisher, directly he comes to the edge of a pool, com- 

 mencing to pay out line not greatly shorter than the maximum 

 that he is able to throw, and to cast therewith to the farther 

 margin of the pool. That may be all very well if it is there, 

 under that far bank, and there only, that the fish are likely 

 to lie, but I often have seen this fine exhibition of casting 

 executed when the probability was far more in favour of the 

 fish lying under the caster's own bank. In this case all 

 he has done by his long casting to start with is to alarm every 

 salmon under the near bank and destroy every chance of 

 catching them. Often it is good policy to begin with 

 quite a short line and therewith to try out the stream that 

 is almost under your feet. Yet, again, you have to re- 

 member that what attracts the fish is not any graceful 

 or athletic act on your part, or any particular curve of the 

 line through the air, but the aspect of the fly in the water. 

 That is all that the fish cares about ; it is all that he ought 

 to see. 



That phrase, " all that he ought to see," reminds me of 

 another tolerably obvious truth which salmon anglers 

 are too apt to forget. The salmon has eyes. Every trout 

 angler, especially with the dry fly, conducts his operations 

 under the assumption that he has to deal with a quick- 

 sighted fish ; the very same man, passing to a salmon river, 

 will sometimes set to work as though he supposed a salmon 

 to have no eyes at all. It is true that the salmon is less 

 likely to see you than the trout, because he lies deeper in 



