338 Life and Sport on the Pacific Slope 



very clear ; so it is important to get out as much line 

 as possible, casting your fly close under the bank. 

 The rainbow trout average about a pound apiece, 

 but five and six pounders are not infrequently 

 caught. My brother and I would change ends 

 every half-hour, for the man in the bow of the 

 canoe fishes the left side and the man in the stern 

 the right side of the river, and a change eases the 

 muscles. As soon as a big fish is hooked, it will be 

 prudent for the other fellow to reel in and lend a 

 hand with the landing-net. A hint as to the use 

 of the net. Many fine fish are lost at the supreme 

 moment because the net is improperly used. The 

 fish floating exhausted to the side of the boat is ladled 

 out of the water as if he were a spoonful of por- 

 ridge. If he has a kick left in him, he will resent 

 this treatment, with a result that may be left to 

 the imagination of the reader. And the more 

 troubled the water, the more likely he is to break 

 the line when he sees the fatal net. He should 

 be tenderly coaxed half-way between the stem and 

 stern of tlie canoe, and the net noiselessly held 

 behind him. Then relax the strain, and in a jiffy 

 he is in the toils. This rule is laid down, I sup- 

 pose, in all the text-books, but I have seen it more 

 honoured in the breach than the observance. 



The fly of flies for these turbulent northern rivers 

 is the Jock Scott, of the size used in Scotland for 

 small grilse. Buy plenty of these, tied by the best 

 man you know, and take others of the same size and 

 colour, like the Silver Doctor, the Silver Grey, the 

 Silver Wilkinson, the Blue Boyne, and that deadly 

 insect, the Alexandra. These, I am aware, are all 



