66 THE SALMON 



humour the supposed caprice of a fish I have risen 

 but not hooked, and have caught him after all on the 

 dropper which had remained the same all the time. 

 But while I have no great faith in colour, I attach much 

 importance to the size of flies, and believe that, as a 

 rule, sportsmen are apt to use them too large. As I 

 have said, I do not like experimenting in strange water 

 where I am a guest, but in the little river which I 

 fished for many years, I gradually, and consistently 

 reduced the size of my flies with uniform success. 

 In clear low water it is hardly possible to have 

 them too small, and I believe that with small flies 

 and fine tackle one need never despair of success. 

 On one occasion I killed twelve salmon in a day 

 in a single small pool after a long drought, all upon 

 small sea-trout flies, and in the middle of the day I 

 tried for a short time the experiment of substituting 

 a little salmon fly, some two sizes larger; but 

 although the fish rose at it every time, not one of 

 them took it into his mouth, although with the 

 smaller flies both before and afterwards nearly every 

 rising fish was hooked. 



For minnow, prawn, and worm fishing, I must 

 refer my readers to other and more exhaustive 

 treatises. Whatever merit there may be in these 

 brief hints is derived from the fact that they are the 



