394 THE ANGLER. 



Canadian salmon pools, one yard may make all the dif- 

 ference, and the angler who can get his fly out that much 

 farther than another may have all the sport. But, indeed, 

 on most rivers the angler who can command the most 

 water has the advantage. In fishing a pool it should be a 

 rule always to commence with a short line, fishing the 

 nearest water first, and then gradually lengthening line 

 each cast. 



Trout fishing and salmon fishing are both arts, might I 

 say fine arts ? but they are diametrically opposed to each 

 other.' If two apprentices, both equally anxious to become 

 salmon fishers, one an old trouter and the other a man 

 who had never held a rod in his hand, were to present 

 themselves to me, I should prefer the latter as a pupil. 

 In trout fishing the movements of the natural fly are 

 imitated, and the fish takes the fly with a rush. What 

 salmon take or mistake the artificial fly for I do not 

 know, although I imagine it must be for some gay- 

 coloured mollusc which they have fattened upon in the 

 depths of the ocean. As regards their method of taking 

 the fly, any person who has fished much in Canadian 

 waters has had ample opportunities of observing it. 

 Grilse come with a rush something like a trout and I 

 may here remark that on two occasions I have seen grilse 

 rise at a natural fly but the mature salmon swims 

 leisurely enough up to the surface after the fly, and 

 when he has got it, returns to where he came from. 

 Salmon seldom take a fly that is moving rapidly on the 

 surface of the water. I have often seen them make a 

 movement towards it, and then retire in apparent disgust 

 to their lie. It is therefore to be observed that in 



