140 LETTERS TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. I 



I understand, in spite of the wide difference in their methods, 

 that these two old gentlemen had caught almost exactly the 

 same number of fish. As for my own practice, for what very 

 little value the mention of that may be, I generally let the 

 fly come round as the current pleases to take it where it is in 

 a strong water which keeps the fly playing and the line 

 tolerably taut. Out in a slack, dead water I always work the 

 fly. Indeed, in a still pool, it is hardly possible to give any 

 appearance of life to the fly except by jigging at it. 



Scarcely less fiercely debated among salmon-fishers is 

 the question whether you should strike a salmon, especially 

 in rough water. Some will tell you that a salmon, turning 

 as he takes the fly, will always hook himself, that your striking 

 only tends to pull the hook out of his mouth. On the other 

 hand, some say (and I am quoting, on both sides, the opinions 

 of the best salmon-fishers I know) that they always strike 

 a salmon as hard as they dare. As for the argument about 

 pulling the hook out of his mouth, they reply that if it is to 

 be pulled out thus, it could not possibly hold while the fish 

 was being played and brought to gaff. They affirm that the 

 strong strike drives the hook well home in the fish's jaw. 

 I must confess that in my own practice I am a confirmed 

 striker, and I believe the arguments of the strikers to be 

 perfectly correct, that if a hook is to be dragged out by the 

 strike it would never have held while the fish was being 

 landed. Yet I will go so far with those who say that you 

 should " never strike a salmon in rough water," as to agree 

 that in the strong current a fish usually takes the fly with 

 such a rush, and turns so quickly in it, that the hook will 

 almost surely be driven well in past the barb without any act 

 of the angler. Yet even in that pleasant case, I do not think 

 the extra " jab " does any harm. 



