MuliK «»F STIMKINC;. A^'i 



rod that the l)arl)i(l hook >hall he l)uiii'(l sciMiicly and (|iiickly, 

 or ere the tish has time to diseovcr that the gaudy hait is an 

 uureal mockery, without sul)stanee or >>avoiii-, consists in knowing 

 wliat is not, rather than what i.s to he done. 



\ iry certain it is that the t\y must not l)e jerked or twitched 

 away (|uickly, as is (h)ne hy nini-ty-nine huiuhcdths of novices, 

 who thereby, instead of tixing the hait in, fUrt it out of tlie 

 mouth of the Sahaon, and [irohahly prii-k him in ihjin}^ so; 

 reiulerini: him therthy shy of again looking at thi- hait, and 

 teaching him a lesson, \\ hiih Ik- may not forget in many davs. 



At two luonieut.s only, of the ordinary east of a tlv, is tin- (ish 

 nearly sure to hook himself — that is, when it first alights on the 

 surface of the stream, and wlu-n it is in the very act of being 

 withdrawn from it, for the purpose of making a fresh throw — for 

 at these two moments only is it necessary at the end of a taut 

 extended line. When a fish strikes boldly at either of these two 

 points of time, it is very sure to hook itself without any exer- 

 tion of the angler; but if the line is in the slightest degree 

 curAcd or baggy, unless there is a certain almost indescribable 

 movement of the wrist, the fly will often be rejected, owing t») 

 the discovery of its (juality, and the li>h will so escape scot-free. 



This striking 1 have seen variously described, but ne\er, in 

 my opinion, comprehensibly. I consider that the great thing 

 in fly-fishing is to keep the line always iis stniight ns possible, 

 never jUlowing any jwrtion of it to flout on the water, and to 

 have the fly never submerged, nor yet skipi>ing, but trailed 

 evenly along the ripples, as if it were naturally floating down, at 

 the end of a straight extended line. Hy thi.s method the chances 

 of striking your Salmon^ without any cflbrt on your own part, 



