374 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



When you get home, it is necessary to soak a piece in water 

 from four to twelve hours (according to the length of time it 

 has been kept) before broiling, in order to soften it and get 

 some of the salt out. 



When Salmon are smoked, they are first put in a strong 

 pickle of brine for twenty-four hours, or salted and pressed 

 between pieces of bark, as already described, and then stretched 

 with slats, and smoked with chips of " hard wood" (maple, 

 birch, &c.) in a bark hut built for the purpose. It requires a 

 longer time to smoke fish than to kipper them, and unless a 

 person has time to give them at least two weeks in the smoke- 

 house, he had better not attempt to carry them home, if the 

 distance is more than three or four days' journey. 



Law AND Custom on the River. — Although there is no 

 law, properly speaking, on a river which is free to all, still 

 there are rules of right and courtesy that obtain, or at least 

 which should be observed, amongst anglers. 



A discreet angler will not consent that his party shall 

 consist of more than two, including himself. Two are 

 company for each other ; if there are more, a smaller propor- 

 tion of the fishing falls to each rod, while sociality is not 

 increased. It is the custom to apportion the pools of a station 

 as fairly as possible between the rods ; and to make the 

 division more equitable, and to prevent the monotony of 

 one angler fishing the same set of pools every day, they are 

 shifted ; that is, the rod that occupied one set on one day will 

 take the other set the next day, and vice versa. The plan of 

 changing the pools at noon on each day is sometimes adopted, 

 so that the new occupant, if he thinks the pools have been 

 fished too persistently by his predecessor, can rest them that 

 afternoon, and have them all the fresher the next morning. 

 Such a course is frequently adopted with great advantage to 

 one who follows an over-industrious and indiscreet angler. 



