PLATING THE FISH. 397 



he cannot be checked at all without fatal results, but 

 immediately it is over he should be tightened up again. 

 The rod should be brought nearly to a perpendicular 

 position so as to bring the strain on the rod, the give and 

 take of which is most tiring to the fish, and if the hook- 

 hold is light, is less likely to break it than a straight pull 

 with the line. From the beginning to the end of the 

 struggle, whether Salmo runs away or comes towards one 

 (except only when he rushes and jumps), there should be 

 a perfectly even strain kept upon him. I know nothing 

 more provoking to the angler than after ten or fifteen 

 minutes, or even a half-hour's play, to see the fly come 

 back in his face. This is generally the result of too light 

 a hand. My theory in salmon fishing is to give the fish 

 all the strain the tackle will bear at first, and when this is 

 done, in nine cases out of ten the first ten seconds will 

 decide the fate of the fish. Another very serious objection 

 to bearing lightly on a fish is the increased length of time 

 it takes to bring him to the gaff. Salmon are not always, 

 indeed I may say very seldom, in a taking humour, and 

 when they are, the less time that is lost the better. Never 

 let a fish run out more line than can be helped ; the farther 

 he is away from the angler, especially in rapid water, the 

 less command he has over him, and consequently a foul is 

 more probable. For the same reason, if possible, always 

 keep square with the fish on the bank of the river. In 

 angling, as every angler knows, there are lucky and 

 unlucky days ; but taking one with another, he should 

 kill at least two fish out of three that he touches with 

 the hook. Broken tackle is in nineteen cases out of 

 twenty the fault of the angler. Salmon sometimes take 



