Fresh Water Fishing 337 



grandfathers will prove in the end the most satis- 

 factory. I should like to be able to say a kind 

 word for American tackle, for the very best articles 

 are superb, but there is an enormous quantity of 

 trash on the market, and the middleman makes his 

 profit out of the trash. Moreover the best is very 

 expensive. I speak from bitter experience, when I 

 urge the traveller to buy nothing but the best, and 

 to buy that, if he can, in England, where he will 

 pay just half what the crack Eastern makers will 

 demand for their wares. Tackle, unfortunately, 

 cannot be tested in a shop. I have bought flies 

 and lines and traces which on the closest inspection 

 seemed as good as they could be, and have had to 

 throw them all away after a week's fishing ! Most 

 of the so-called waterproof lines " knuckle " after a 

 few days' work ! 



If time is no object to the angler, I should advise 

 him to travel straight to Victoria in Vancouver's 

 Island, and on the rivers north of this pleasant 

 town he will find, between the first of April and 

 the end of October, sport so good that unless he 

 is very keen he runs the risk of becoming glutted 

 with it. He will learn on arrival that trout-fishing, 

 not salmon-spinning, is the one topic of anglers, for 

 trout take the fly, and the fishermen of Victoria 

 hold the spoon in contempt. 



No matter what river you choose, the fishing 

 (nine times out of ten) must be done from a canoe. 

 With a little practice two men can fish comfortably 

 out of the same boat. You drop down stream till 

 you come to a likely place, and then throw out a 

 small anchor. The streams are wide, and the water 



