A VORACIOUS FISH. 389 



fly out of some hair from a lumberman's head, a small bit 

 of my red flannel shirt, and the tail feathers of a ruffed 

 grouse. My rod was a long supple sapling. On this 

 primitive tackle I killed a 12-lb. fish, and rose two or 

 three more. But salmon are not always so voracious, and 

 I consider there is a good deal not only in the colour, but 

 also in the combination of colours, as there most certainly 

 is in the way a fly swims and shows in the water. Perhaps 

 the most important point in a salmon fly is the wing: 

 this should extend as far, but not farther than the bend of 

 the hook, and should not stick up stiffly like a butterfly's 

 wing, but should lie down close over the hackle, and 

 should open and shut gracefully as the fly is moved back- 

 wards and forwards through the water. Feathers should 

 predominate over wools and silks in a salmon fly ; a great 

 bunch of wool is an abomination, so is a badly put on 

 hackle ; and no fluffy materials likely to get water soaked 

 should ever be put in a fly. Most of the Canadian 

 salmon rivers are full of trout, and these voracious 

 creatures chop up one's flies in a sad way, particularly the 

 tinsel ; on this account I never use flat tinsel, but always 

 either the round or the plaited. 



Some of the Nova Scotian rivers resemble the Scotch 

 in colour, but the bulk of Canadian salmon rivers, almost 

 all those that flow into the St. Lawrence, are very bright 

 and clear. There is no ploughed land, no drains, and 

 very few bogs to discolour their waters. Their sources 

 are in the primeval forest or in the bare, rocky hills of 

 Labrador and Gaspe. Sitting on a high bank on one of 

 these rivers when the sun is high one can see every 

 pebble in the bottom, and count every salmon and trout. 



